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About Gingerbread
Appears in
By Richard Sax
Published 1994
They sette him Roial spicerye And Gingebread.
GEOFFREY CHAUCER ,
SIR THOPAS, 1386
The history of gingerbread can be traced farther back than any other baked item except bread. German lebkuchen, a form of gingerbread originally made in monasteries, was first mentioned in print in 1320 and was spiced with honey, ginger and ground black pepper. Later, guilds were formed specifically for bakers of the various forms of lebkuchen.
Pepper was often included with the “warm spices” in medieval recipes, but the “pepper” in cookie names like German pfeffernüsse and the Swedish gingersnaps called pepperkakor refers to overall spiciness, and black pepper is not included as an ingredient.