The gingerbread man
An elderly couple didn’t have children and decided to make a cookie shaped like one instead (as one does - if you’re sad about something eating your feelings is always an option). Once baked the spicy little cookie runs away from the couple and, on his fast journey to nowhere, he escapes a bevy of hungry farm animals. He is eventually tricked by a crafty fox and gobbled up.
After reading this tale I was very interested in the history of the gingerbread cookie. Gingerbread dates all the way back to ancient times with versions of recipes occurring in ancient Egypt and Greece as far back as 2400 BC! Gingerbread was brought from Greece to Europe sometime in the 10th century. Apparently Elizabeth I of England was the first person to come up with the idea of human shaped cookies when she had biscuits made in the likenesses of her guests. Elizabeth also began the tradition of elaborately decorated ginger cookies. As for gingerbread houses it seems that these originated sometime in 16th century Germany and became popular around the time the Brothers Grimm released Hansel and Gretel, but this is kind of a chicken or egg situation as it is unclear whether the story or the tradition of decorating cookie houses came first.
Inspired by my emerging love of the gingerbread cookie and its history my family and I recently decided to bake a gingerbread house from scratch; after all, pandemic times have made us all more capable bakers right? I highly recommend you don’t tackle this momentous feat, it turned out to be extremely stressful, but if you don’t feel like heeding my warning here is the recipe we used (again, if you dare) (again, don’t):
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-house-recipe-1963254
Sources:
https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-gingerbread/
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/gingerbread-man-story-heres-history-220737639.html
After reading this tale I was very interested in the history of the gingerbread cookie. Gingerbread dates all the way back to ancient times with versions of recipes occurring in ancient Egypt and Greece as far back as 2400 BC! Gingerbread was brought from Greece to Europe sometime in the 10th century. Apparently Elizabeth I of England was the first person to come up with the idea of human shaped cookies when she had biscuits made in the likenesses of her guests. Elizabeth also began the tradition of elaborately decorated ginger cookies. As for gingerbread houses it seems that these originated sometime in 16th century Germany and became popular around the time the Brothers Grimm released Hansel and Gretel, but this is kind of a chicken or egg situation as it is unclear whether the story or the tradition of decorating cookie houses came first.
Inspired by my emerging love of the gingerbread cookie and its history my family and I recently decided to bake a gingerbread house from scratch; after all, pandemic times have made us all more capable bakers right? I highly recommend you don’t tackle this momentous feat, it turned out to be extremely stressful, but if you don’t feel like heeding my warning here is the recipe we used (again, if you dare) (again, don’t):
https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/gingerbread-house-recipe-1963254
Sources:
https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-gingerbread/
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/gingerbread-man-story-heres-history-220737639.html