Then …
The tradition of decorated gingerbread houses began in Germany in the early 1800s, supposedly popularised after the not-so-Christmassy fairytale of Hansel and Gretel was published in 1812. The Grimms’ original fairy tale includes the line: “When they came nearer they saw that the house was built of bread, and roofed with cakes, and the window was of transparent sugar.” (In later versions it became gingerbread, rather than just bread.) Inspired by the story, German bakers began to craft small decorated houses from lebkuchen, spiced honey biscuits.
The origins of gingerbread are not precise. Ginger root was first cultivated in China around 5,000 years ago, and was thought to have medicinal and magical properties. When its usefulness as a preservative was discovered is unclear, but some food historians say that the first known recipe for gingerbread dates from around 2400 BC in Greece. Others trace its history to 992 AD, when Armenian monk Gregory of Nicopolis is thought to have taught Christian bakers in France how to make it. Later references include a gingerbread guild in Germany, probably formed in the 15th century to protect the rights of certain bakers. At around the same time, nuns in Sweden were baking gingerbread to ease indigestion.
Figure-shaped gingerbread is often credited to the court of Queen Elizabeth I, where biscuits were made in the likeness of important guests. It was even referred to in Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost in 1598: “And I had but one penny in the world, thou should’st have it to buy gingerbread.” In the following centuries shaped gingerbread became popular across Europe, with figures and models used as window decorations, or given as gifts on religious holidays or birthdays.
Now …
The modern tradition of making gingerbread houses has become a family event at Christmas markets around the world.
The biggest house
Created by Traditions Club in Texas, on 30 November 2013, the house was 18.28 metres long, 12.8 metres wide and 18.28 metres tall. Making a similar house would take 820kg of butter, 1,327kg of brown sugar, 7,200 eggs, 3,266kg of flour, 31 kg of ground ginger – and would contain a whopping 35.8 million calories.
The biggest village
In 2017, Jon Lovitch, sous-chef at the New York Marriott Marquis Hotel, broke the record for the fourth time for the “largest gingerbread village”. It was displayed at the New York Hall of Science. Another contender was the Pepperkakebyen (Gingerbread Town) in Bergen, Norway (on display until 31 December, £9). In 2015 it had more than 2,000 individual buildings that lit up, as well as ships, cars and a train. But only 1,020 of the structures were made of gingerbread, and it was denied the record for including non-edible components.
The real-life gingerbread town
The walled medieval town of Dinkelsbühl, southern Germany, is often thought of as a real-life town of gingerbread houses. Its picturesque and well-preserved historic centre has gabled half-timbered buildings in yellow and peach, a church, a little town square and cobbled streets.
Where to see gingerbread houses this Christmas
The Museum of Architecture’s annual Gingerbread City is on display at the V&A in London until 6 Jan 2019 (£6, under-12s free). The intricate, fully lit city includes city farm, museum, school, sports stadium, botanical gardens, opera house, cable car and even a microbrewery. Its theme this year is Imagining the Future City, aiming to encourage visitors to think how our cities could be more inclusive and sustainable. Look out for the homeless shelter with a community cafe and the outdoor cinema powered by green hydroponic energy. There are also workshops for budding biscuit architects, (child £30, accompanying adult free).
Trying once more to break his own record, Lovich has created a 2018 Gingerbread Lane, on display at the New York Hall of Science again this year ($16 museum entrance, until 31 January). There are also gingerbread house workshops until the end of December ($15). The New York Adventure Club is running a workshop with Lovitch himself tomorrow, with a step-by-step demo on how to make the perfect gingerbread house ($60).
