Christmassy Things: Gingerbread & Pepparkakor

Gingerbread is a Christmas favourite all over the West. It is not really a 'bread' but more of a biscuit or, more rarely, a cake. So gingerbread can range from being quite soft and chewy, to very crunchy, depending on the region or recipe. What unites all these dishes as 'gingerbread' is the ingredients, which normally include ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and other Christmassy spices (which in the old days might have included black pepper).

Northern Europe has strong gingerbread traditions, although the original recipe may have come from Armenia or Mesopotamia over a thousand years ago. In early days, it was thought the confectionery had some medicinal properties - and the flavour today should be slightly 'hot and spicy' (as well as sweet) due to the ingredients.

One of my favourite types of 'gingerbread' is the Swedish Pepparkakor - a very fine, crunchy biscuit, often shaped like a star or a flower. These are light and melt-in-the-mouth - very yummy! A Swedish friend once told me that you can also make a wish with these thin biscuits: put one in the palm of your hand before eating, and tap it - if the biscuit breaks into three, your wish will come true! Other Scandinavian countries have similar confections.  

Pepparkakor

In the UK we generally have heavier gingerbread recipes. Often made into shapes such as gingerbread men (sometimes iced to give them faces). These are old-style recipes, and apparently the first gingerbread men were made in the court of Queen Elizabeth 1, as biscuits to resemble her guests! Today, gingerbread is not such a famous Christmas food in the UK as it is in other European countries. We eat gingerbread at other times of year too, but there is something comforting about the flavour (maybe with a hot tea or coffee) in wintertime! 

Gingerbread Men (photo: bbc.co.uk)

Over the 20th century, smaller, decorated Christmas cookies became popularised from the USA, and these can be made from gingerbread too. They are often cut into shapes to resemble Christmas trees, stars or other festive things. In fact Christmas biscuits originated in Europe, but (like Halloween, or eggnog) got transformed and made fashionable by North America :) 

Several European countries (including UK, Sweden and Germany) have traditions of small confectionery houses made from gingerbread, and often decorated beautifully using icing and sweets. In some accounts, one such house (a big one!) tempted the children Hansel and Gretel in the old German fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. 

Gingerbread House

Here's one baker's guide to making a Gingerbread House: 
http://www.bakingmywaythroughgermany.com/2015/12/mini-gingerbread-house/

And a recipe and bit more about Pepparkakor (although you can buy these in posher supermarkets in UK, Singapore, Japan and other parts of the world!) 
http://www.fransfavs.com/2011/12/pepparkakor-swedish-ginger-cookies/