Gingerbread Man: The Christmas treat that owes its shape to a former British monarch
What’s Christmas without cookies? And what’s a cookie without the Gingerbread Man? You must be wondering who Gingerbread Man is! Well, it’s a kind of biscuit or cookie that is in the shape of a person and it’s made from gingerbread. If you have you ever had the chance of tasting it, you would know that Gingerbread is a kind of moist loaf cake or crisp bread snaps, primarily baked out of ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon often sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. It’s quite popular worldwide, especially as part of Christmas celebration.
But who came up with the idea of endowing gingerbread into the caricature of human beings and turning it into a crispy Christmas treat? Well, the answer is sure to leave you surprised!
Conceived by Queen Elizabeth I
If you dig into the origin of gingerbread itself, you will see that it was born in the Mediterranean region in the 11th century but entered Western Europe with crusaders, only around 15th century. But it wasn’t until the next century that figurative biscuits begun to be made. Guess who was behind it? Queen Elizabeth I of England. Legend has it that the Queen commissioned the royal cooks to mould the shape of the already popular confection into the shapes of her favourite courtiers. Not only that, but she also presented these miniature edible humans to some of her VIP guests (foreign dignitaries) as dessert during fancy royal dinners.
The humanoid shape of the original Gingerbread Man had stubby feet with missing fingers and a face with indentations made with other candies, icing or chocolate. They are also known to exhibit shirt buttons represented by gum drops or raisins.
Bonus fact: The 19th century fairy tale called The Gingerbread Man, published in the Saint Nicholas Magazine has delighted children for generations since then. It’s the story of a Gingerbread Man who comes to life and manages to flee from an elderly couple and a few farm animals, only to be eaten by a sly fox.
Legends surrounding Gingerbread Man
Soon, the tradition of baking gingerbread biscuits in the shape of a person became a country-wide phenomenon. In fact, English women in those times started believing that if a woman consumed these gingerbread cookies, they might land the best suitors and end up married. Maybe that’s why, the first name that these treats received was Gingerbread Husband. Later, the name was upgraded to Gingerbread Man to attract all and sundry. Interestingly, since the Gingerbread Man looks more like a toddler than a man, people since then have also associated it with baby Jesus during Christmas. The other ingredient refers to the unique gifts from the biblical Magi. Then there’s also the theory that the Gingerbread Man derived its diminutive shape from the medieval knights who often preferred to devour ginger-flavoured sugary treats called ‘fairings’ before their duels. It was a sign of good luck. It is also believed that the Gingerbread Man’s rich flavour helps people warm up during the cold and Christmas time.
Fun fact: The world’s largest Gingerbread Man was made in November 2009 in Oslo, Norway. It weighed 651 kilograms and earned a place in the Guinness Book of World Records. This Gingerbread Man was made by the employees of IKEA Furuset, a Swedish-Dutch multinational conglomerate that sells ready-to-assemble furniture, kitchen appliances and more.