She then served them to guests, who were amused to eat their own likenesses, or perhaps she ate them out of spite. While the timeline here is a bit fuzzy, it was Queen Elizabeth I who gets the credit for introducing the first true “gingerbread men.” when she had her pastry bakers create gingerbread biscuits cut to resemble her suitors and other dignitaries who visited her court, decorating them with edible features and outfits. Less lavish forms of gingerbread, often shaped like animals, hearts, and other symbols were a staple at Medieval fairs for commoners, and unmarried woman ate man-shaped figures called “husbands” to help attract and ensure they’d find a real husband. More elaborate gingerbread, often iced and decorated with gold leaf, and depicting people was used by heads of state for self-promotion and handed out like coins it also became common in royal courts. They were allowed to eat the tablets once they successfully completed the lesson. Children were given gingerbread slabs with letters inscribed on them to help them learn the alphabet. The word “gingerbread” was derived from an Old French term for gingered food and morphed into Middle English “gyngebreed,” which then became “gingerbread.” Mostly made by monks to feed to the hungry and use for religious instruction, flat cakes or cookies were formed from a paste of breadcrumbs, honey, and ginger that was rolled out thin and either pressed into molds or baked in sheets and later cut. The term “gingerbread” to describe what would later become the hard cookies we know today is a bit misleading, because although today we’re familiar with gingerbread loaves, it was never a bread. Ginger was used in food even before that, first cultivated in China approximately 5,000 years ago, and was thought to have magical and medicinal properties. While some food historians say the first known recipe for gingerbread dates from around 2400 BC in Greece, others trace its origins to 992 AD when Christian bakers in France were taught to make it by Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis. The origins of gingerbread cookies and houses may go back further than you realize. Everywhere you turn, there are treats to be enjoyed, but nothing makes us smile more than whimsical gingerbread men (women too!) and colorfully decorated gingerbread houses. Christmas is the time for eggnog, fruitcake, and peppermint bark. Like the Butler family’s chocolate waffles on Christmas, many of these delights come from generations of tradition and family recipes, and only appear for the season or this one special holiday. The ambrosia salad that an aunt makes special for you, the peanut butter fudge Nana always made, your best friend’s rum balls. ’Tis the season to enjoy those special holiday treats that we look forward to all year.
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