Decorating gingerbread houses and men has been a favorite holiday activity for many years. Not always associated just with Christmas, gingerbread has been baked in Europe for centuries, and came to America with the early settlers. The word “gingerbread” comes from the Old French gingebras, which means "preserved ginger".
The earliest and strongest tradition of flat, shaped gingerbreads comes from Germany. Gingerbread was a popular item at the Christkindlmarkt, a December street festival held in Nuremberg, Germany in the 1600’s. Gingerbread became a part of children’s literature in the 1800’s with the Brothers Grimm fairy tale Hansel and Gretel, in which the two children discover a house made of gingerbread and candies, and also with the story of the oven-escaping Gingerbread Man.
Today, it is at Christmas that gingerbread makes its most impressive appearance. Houses of all styles and sizes, from the Hansel and Gretel style-houses heavy with candies and sugar icicles, to elaborate Victorian houses richly decorated and ornamented, are built and displayed during the holiday season. Gingerbread cookies are also a common Christmas goodie, from decorated shapes of men and women to the round Scandinavian-style pepparkakar.
Symbolism relating to Christ can also be drawn in gingerbread. One of the Savior’s titles is the Bread of Life, and it is bread that He divided to feed the multitudes and that He broke at the Last Supper. The spice of ginger can be related to the spice oil of myrrh given by the Wise Men to the baby Jesus.
No comments:
Post a Comment