Nordic Christmas “Hygge” with a sweet and spicy ginger biscuit
Originally, the term gingerbread referred to preserved ginger from the French word ‘gingerbras’. Gingerbread is a term to describe ginger flavoured cakes, biscuits or cookies and bears no resemblance to dough that bread is made from.
The French word ‘gingerbras’ (where the ‘s’ is silent) sounded similar to the word gingerbread when spoken in English and this is how the word was derived. The ginger spice was introduced to Medieval Europe by the crusaders.
Recipes for Gingerbread changed over time. The potent ground spices used in Medieval cooking recipes were called ‘Good Powders’. Pungent spices such ground ginger or a blend of cinnamon and mace, cubeb, pepper or clove was called ‘Strong Powder’.
In the Nordics, soldiers in the 14th Century were given “Peberkager” for food and energy when going into battle. These have evolved in shape and texture over time to the thin spicy, sweet and tasty biscuits we enjoy today.
There is no definitive reason as to why they are served at Christmas time, but we are sure they complement Glögg and “Hygge” with family and friends during the winter.
At Einar Willumsen we not only produce some outstanding flavours for these biscuits, we extract and distil the finest Ginger and spices to really enhance the recipe.
