And I had but one penny in the world. Thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.– William Shakespeare, Love’s Labours Lost
It's that time of year when our thoughts naturally shift to Nuremberg, the city became somehow synonymous with all things Gingerbread, by chaos or by design or by the design of chaos. Especially those wonderful gingerbread houses:
And let's not forget the Prune People!
(The neocon is the cute, shrivelly guy on the top right ...)There are histories of Gingerbread (Lebkuchen) on the internet, here and here.
Regional variations sprouted with the influx of more and more immigrants. Pennsylvania particularly, was greatly influenced by German cooking and many traditional German gingerbreads reappeared in this area, especially at Christmas time. "Hard gingerbreads" were shaped into little pudgy men until the introduction of the cookie cutter. This occurred as a direct influence of Queen Victoria and her German husband, Albert, who began the tradition in England. Pennsylvania Dutch tinsmiths are famous to this day for their innovative and creative shapes.
The Christmas Market, Nuremberg:
(photos courtesy of The Nuremberg Christmas Market)
