Pies, Puddings and Pottages

Legend has it that gingerbread was introduced to Europe by an Armenian monk, Gregory of Nicopolis, in the tenth century. He lived in Bondaroy in France for several years during which time he taught French Christians how to make a gingery hard biscuit. It is more likely, however, that it was introduced to the northern countries of Europe from the Middle East in the eleventh century and became particularly popular in Poland and Sweden. Gingerbread is still widely eaten in eastern Europe, Germany and Scandinavia particularly at Christmas. It was also viewed as food that was medicinal as ginger was regarded as an aide to digestion and a cure for upset stomachs. It is not clear when gingerbread arrived in Britain, but it was probably making an appearance at fairs in the Middle Ages. By the seventeenth century a trade in the biscuits was taking place in monasteries and at town markets. In the eighteenth century, gingerbread was very popular and could be purchased in bakeries and sweet shops. Making gingerbread into ‘men’ dates from Elizabeth I’s court where she asked for the gingerbread to be made into representations of courtiers. In Germany it is traditional to make an elaborate gingerbread house for Christmas.