Pfefferkuchen and Piernik respectively (lit.'pepper cake' because it used to contain pepper) or Lebkuchen (of unclear etymology; either Latin libum, meaning "sacrifice" or "sacrificial bread," or German Laib for loaf or German for life, leben). Pepper is also referenced in regional names like Norwegian pepperkaker or Czech perník (originally peprník).[2]
The meaning of gingerbread has evolved over time. For centuries the term referred to a traditional European pastry, very like a modern
Gingerbread is claimed to have been brought to Europe in 992 AD by the Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis (also called Gregory Makar and Grégoire de Nicopolis). He left Nicopolis (in modern-day western Greece) to live in Bondaroy (north-central France), near the town of Pithiviers. He stayed there for seven years until he died in 999 and taught gingerbread baking to French Christians.[4] It may have been brought to Western Europe from the eastern Mediterranean in the 11th century.[5]
Since the 13th century,
Toruń gingerbread was made in Toruń, then State of the Teutonic Order (now Poland). It gained fame in the realm and abroad when it was brought to Sweden by German immigrants. In 15th-century Germany, a gingerbread guild controlled production.[6] Early references from the Vadstena Abbey show that the Swedish nuns baked gingerbread to ease indigestion in 1444.[7] It was the custom to bake white biscuits and paint them as window decorations. In England, gingerbread was also thought to have medicinal properties.[8] 16th-century writer John Baret described gingerbread as "a kinde of cake or paste made to comfort the stomacke."[5]
Gingerbread was a popular treat at medieval European festivals and fairs, and there were even dedicated gingerbread fairs.[5]
The first documented trade of gingerbread biscuits in England dates to the 17th century,
high street
businesses since the 1640s. Gingerbread became widely available in the 18th century.
Gingerbread came to the Americas with settlers from Europe. Molasses, less expensive than sugar, soon became a common ingredient and produced a softer cake. The first printed American cookbook, American Cookery by Amelia Simmons, contained seven different recipes for gingerbread.[10] Her recipe for "Soft gingerbread to be baked in pans" is the first written recipe for the cakey old-fashioned American gingerbread.[11]
Varieties
England
In England, gingerbread may refer to a cake, or type of
ginger nut
biscuit.
"Parliament cake" or "Parlies", a very spicy ginger
Potterrow, behind the university, run by a Mrs Flockhart, AKALuckie Fykie, the landlady who is thought to be the inspiration for Mrs Flockhart in Walter Scott's Waverley.[14][15][16][17][18][19][20] The recipe is mentioned in Christian Isobel Johnstone's The Cook and Housewife's Manual (also known as Meg Dod's Cookery)[21] (1826) published under the pseudonym of "Mrs. Margaret Dods, of the Cleikum Inn, Saint Ronan's", evoking the character of Margaret Dods, the hostess of the Cleikum Inn in Walter Scott's novel Saint Ronan's Well (1823).It was immensely popular, and in which, she used characters Scott's to give commentary on preparing national specialties.[22][23]
Parkin is a form of soft gingerbread cake made with oatmeal and treacle which is popular in northern England, originating in Yorkshire.
Americas
In the United States, this form of gingerbread is sometimes called "gingerbread cake" or "ginger cake" to distinguish it from the harder forms. French pain d'épices is somewhat similar, though generally slightly drier, and involves honey rather than treacle and uses less spice than other breads in this category.
In Panama, a confection named yiyinbre is a gingerbread cake made with ginger and molasses; it is typical of the region of Chiriquí. Another popular confection is quequi or queque, a chewy biscuit made with ginger, molasses, and coconut.
In Brazil, "Pão de Mel", literally meaning honey cake, is a popular treat, it consists in a type of gingerbread made with honey and other spices in small circles with a chocolate covering and can be found traditionally filled with Dulche de Leche.