Arrowroot is a starch obtained from the rhizomes of several tropical plants. 'Thin arrowroot' is repeatedly mentioned in 19th Century texts as a type of gruel thought to be especially nourishing. 'The Medical Intelligencer':of 1828 (v5, p9) has; "it is of importance to know what description of food is best adapted for early infancy. ... Perhaps nothing is so suitable as barleygruel, mixed with a small portion of cow's milk; or thin arrowroot mucilage..."
Western Gazette - Friday 17 July 1914
Original Receipt from 'The Bread And Biscuit Baker's And Sugar-Boiler's Assistant' by Robert Wells, 1890 (Wells 1890)72. - Small Arrowroot Biscuits.
51/2 lbs. of flour, 8 ozs. of butter, 6 ozs. of sugar, 6 ozs. of arrowroot, 3 eggs, 1 pint of liquor. Prepare as the last. Make 16 biscuits from 1 lb. of dough. Mould and pin into round cakes 3 inches in diameter, dock them with an arrowroot docker, and bake them in a sound oven.
