By Afiur
February 11, 2026
It traces back to ancient Europe, when sailors and soldiers carried dry, twice-baked bread for long journeys.
The Dutch and British made rusk popular in the 17th century to prevent bread from spoiling.When the British came to India, they brought tea-time traditions with them.
Once it arrived in India, rusk was quickly adapted to suit local tastes. By the mid-20th century, Indian bakeries had fully localised rusk production.
It was only in the early 20th century that the British-owned Indian Tea Association started promoting tea among Indians to promote local consumption. He encouraged vendors to sell tea with milk and su
Indians made it their own. Street-side chaiwalas began brewing tea with spices, ginger, cardamom, and milk. Chai was no longer a colonial product.
And what better companion to a cup of hot chai than a dry, porous rusk that soaks up the flavours perfectly? It was cheap, available at every local bakery or grocery shop, and required no preparation.
Rusk became the great equaliser of Indian snack culture. It didn’t matter whether you were drinking tea in a steel tumbler in a small-town home.