How Gingerbread Became a Christmas Treat

Mix honey, breadcrumbs, ground black pepper, saffron, ground cinnamon, and, optionally, grated tree bark for color. Shape the paste into a square, and use cloves to stick leaves to it for decoration. Err… yum? What? This 15th-century recipe for gingerbread does not sound appetizing? Listen, back then, this was the height of luxury and a lavish display of wealth. Spices were rare, so to use four of them in one dish meant that you had money to burn. There is a long and rich history behind how gingerbread became a staple holiday treat. In China and India ginger had been used in medicine for thousands of years. When trade with Europe began, ginger became one of the earliest and most prized exports. By the Middle Ages, monks in the West were making gingerbread cookies with religious scenes carved into them—a snack and a lesson! It was about this time that gingerbread began to resemble the holiday treat eaten all around the world today—with a few changes to the original recipe. Queen Elizabeth I is credited with inventing the gingerbread man. She requested that palace bakers create gingerbread cookies in the shape and resemblance of dignitaries visiting her court, as little tokens for them. She even employed a royal gingerbread baker. Gingerbread houses appeared next, in the 17th century. Their popularity increased when the Brothers Grimm published the tale of “Hansel and Gretel” in 1812. The witch’s cottage in the story is described as being “built of bread and covered with cakes.” This story may have played on 17th-century lore associating witches with gingerbread. One superstition alleged that witches could enchant gingerbread cookies, eat them, and, by doing so, cause the death of the person the cookie represented! And finally, when many European immigrants arrived in the U.S. in the 1800s, they brought their holiday traditions with them. One of these—Christmas tree decorating—often featured edible ornaments made of gingerbread. Such traditions took hold, and the rest is history. Tasty, tasty history.