Every holiday, families construct one of the most edible architectural structures: the Gingerbread House. Crisp cookie walls and a roof decorated with icing, gumdrops, and an assortment of candy are markers of the iconic holiday treat. Although the exact origins are unclear, the gingerbread house continues to be a part of many households’ Christmas traditions.
The Material: Gingerbread
Gingerbread is a confectionary treat that uses sweets and spices. The term “gingerbread” comes from an old French word meaning “preserved ginger”. Although it contains the word ‘bread,’ gingerbread is not bread, and the ingredients have evolved over the years.
In the 11th century Europe, the earlier recipe used almonds, stale breadcrumbs, sugar, rosewater, and ginger, while today’s gingerbread is made from ginger, spices such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and natural sweeteners such as honey, sugar, or molasses.
The Origin of the Gingerbread House
Gingerbread comes from ginger root which was first cultivated in ancient China. Ginger root was used in many natural treatments due to its medicinal properties. Later on, Europeans used ginger as a spice and preservative. Many sources claim the first recipe for gingerbread came from Greece in 2400 BC.
It is said that gingerbread made its way to Europe thanks to an Armenia monk named, Gregory Markar in the year 991, who made a cake from ginger and spices. At first, gingerbread was reserved for the elite and the rich, but as time went on they were used in religious ceremonies and fairs.
Gingerbread was seen as lucky. A variety of recipes were made in the 10th century and medieval times, but the decoration of the gingerbread cookies is commonly accredited to Queen Elizabeth the First. This lead to the creation of some festivals known as Gingerbread Fairs featuring elaborately decorated gingerbread. The gingerbread cookies were shaped like the dignitaries who visited the queen’s court. The gingerbread cookies became a symbol of extravagance and elegance in England.
The gingerbread houses, however, originated in Germany during the 16th century. Before the introduction of gingerbread to the Germans, they had a similar spiced cookie called, Lebkuchen, which was popular around Christmas time.
Gingerbread recipes were believed to be passed down or shared with other countries through immigrants. Mary Washington, former president George Washington’s mother, had a recipe in 1784.
How did gingerbread houses become popular?
In the early 1800s, decorating gingerbread houses were popularized by the Grimms’ fairytale, Hansel and Gretel. In the tale, two siblings are abandoned in the woods and stumble upon a house made of bread and treats, which later became gingerbread. Inspired by the tale, German bakers baked small houses from lebkuchen.
Like decorating the Christmas tree, building and decorating gingerbread houses is another fun, family bonding activity.
Fun fact: The largest gingerbread house was created in 2013 by Traditions Club (USA) in Texas. It stands at 39, 202 cubic feet, and is 60 feet long, 42 feet wide, and 10 feet tall.
References
https://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/history-gingerbread/
https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2018/dec/22/a-brief-history-of-the-gingerbread-house
https://www.thespruceeats.com/the-history-of-gingerbread-1135954
https://epicureandculture.com/gingerbread-houses-history-and-traditions/
http://www.ianyanmag.com/how-an-armenian-monk-brought-gingerbread-to-the-west/