Have you ever met someone who doesn’t
like gingerbread? I haven’t, and probably never will. It’s universally
loved…well maybe just Earthly loved. I don’t know how they feel about it on other
planets.
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| Take me to your bakery |
Gingerbread dates way
back to ancient times. An early form of gingerbread can be traced to the Greeks and Egyptians who used it for medicinal
and ceremonial purposes.
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| Take two Gingerbread men and call me in the morning |
There are
several different versions of how gingerbread made its way to Europe.
One story
is that 11th-century crusaders brought the spice back from
the Middle East.
Another is in
992 CE. an
Armenian monk, Gregory of Nicopolis left Nicopolis,
Pompeii, to live in Bondaroy (France),
near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there
seven years and taught
gingerbread baking to French Christians. He died in 999.CE
From then on
gingerbread could
be found in many countries and cultures. Each making it unique in their own way. Until it
eventually evolved into the delicious, versatile, sweet treat, we all know and love today.
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| Go fetch me some gingerbreadius yummius |
According to Amanda Fiegl@smithsonian.com
" Gingerbread was a favorite treat at festivals and fairs in
medieval Europe. Often shaped and decorated to look like flowers, birds, animals
or even armor—and several cities in France and England hosted regular
"gingerbread fairs" for centuries. Ladies often gave their favorite
knights a piece of gingerbread for good luck in a tournament, or
superstitiously ate a "gingerbread husband" to improve their chances
of landing the real thing.”
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| I made you this shield out of gingerbread, good luck. |
From medicinal ginger root to sweet tasty
treat and back again.
Tory Avery writes in her article The
History of Gingerbread
"Ginger root was first
cultivated in ancient China, where it was commonly used as a medical treatment.
From there it spread to Europe via the Silk Road.
During
the Middle Ages it was favored as a spice for its ability to disguise the taste
of preserved meats.
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|
This chicken tastes terrible. I gots ta get me some
gingerbread!
|
Henry VIII is said to have used a ginger
concoction in hopes of building a resistance to the plague.
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| A Gingerbread a day keeps the plague away |
Even today we use
ginger as an effective remedy for nausea and other stomach ailments. In
Sanskrit the root was known as srigavera, which translates to
‘root shaped like a horn’ – a fitting name for ginger’s unusual
appearance."
Ginger, in its many uses, and forms, has brought health and pleasure down through the ages.
We may now be as creative as we like, and
bake and decorate...
and write...
and draw...
and make very sweet little wearable friends...
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| https://tinyhandsonline.com/collections/all-products |
Wonderful, Wonderful, Gingerbread.
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