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Christmas is around the corner, and we are all very excited to celebrate the festival. Besides turkey, cakes and hams, gingerbread is another popular delicacy that is widely enjoyed during the holiday season. Available is many forms like cookies, house and candies, this Christmas delight is loved by all.
Gingerbread basically refers to a wide category of baked items that are flavoured with ginger and spices like cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon along with the sweetness of honey, sugar or molasses. But did you know it was not until the 15th century when gingerbread was applied to desserts. In Medieval England the term was simply referred to “preserved ginger”.
According to the historians, ginger root was first cultivated in ancient China and was traditionally used for medical treatment. Then soon after it reached Europe through the Silk Road. In the Middle Ages it was commonly used as a spice to cover up the taste of preserved meats.
According to Rhonda Massingham Hart’s Making Gingerbread Houses book, the first recorded gingerbread recipe arrived from Greece during 2400 BC. Chinese recipes started developing in the 10th century and by the end of Middle Ages, Europeans invented their own version of gingerbread.
The cookies became staple at the Medieval fairs in countries like England, France, Holland and Germany and was used to be shaped like animals, kings and queens. The credit for this creativity in decorating cookies can be given to Queen Elizabeth I. Over time the shapes of the gingerbread were modified with the season like people used to make flower gingerbread in the spring and bird shaped in the fall.
Coming to gingerbread houses, this confectionery was invented during the 16th century in Germany. It is basically a detailed cookie-walled house which is decorated with foil and gold leaf. Later gingerbread houses were associated with Christmas tradition. The popularity of these dessert houses reached new heights when the Brothers Grimm wrote the story of Hansel and Gretel. In this tale, the main characters trip over a house which is entirely made of treats in a deep forest.
In the new world, gingerbread arrived with English colonists and the cookies were mainly used to manipulate Virginia voters to favour one candidate over another. In America, the softer version of this baked good was more common. As per food historians, the first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits was done during the 17th century in England. The biscuits were sold in monasteries, pharmacies and farmers' markets. It was not before the 18th century; gingerbread became widely popular in other parts of the world and today, no holiday celebration is complete without this delicacy.
