Making Medieval Gingerbread

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Subtitles: Jose Mendoza

Medieval Gingerbread
ORIGINAL 14TH CENTURY RECIPE (From Curye on Inglysch)
To make gingerbrede. Take goode honye & clarefie it on the fere, & take fayre paynemayn or wastel brede & grate it, & caste it into the boylenge hony, & stere it well togyder faste with a sklyse (spatula) that it bren not to the vessel. & thanne take it doun and put therin ginger, longe pepper & saundres, & tempere (mix) it up with thin handes; & than put them to a flatt boyste (pan) & straw (scatter) thereon sugar & pick therin clowes rounde aboute by the egge (edge) and in the mydes yf it plece you &c.

MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Cup (330) Honey
- 1/2 Loaf (250g) Dry White Bread or Bread Crumbs
- 1 tablespoon Dried Ginger
- 3/4 tsp Long Pepper
- 1/2 tsp Sandalwood
- 1/4 Cup (50g) or less Sugar. Enough for sprinkling
- Several Whole Cloves
- Gold Leaf (Optional)

METHOD
1. Pour the honey into a saucepan and set over medium heat until boiling. Add the bread crumbs, but only enough to have the mixture come together. This could be considerably less that the full 250g depending on the dryness of the bread. Mix until homogenous.
2. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the ginger, long pepper and sandalwood. Then turn it out onto a piece of parchment and roll out to desired thickness. Cover and let cool for several hours or overnight.
3. Once cool, sprinkle sugar on top and cut into whatever shape you like. Garnish with whole cloves (removing them before eating; they will add flavor) and gold.

PHOTO CREDITS

#tastinghistory #gingerbread #christmas

[TastingHistory]

Where do you stand on the debate: Hard Gingerbread Biscuit or Soft Gingerbread Cake?

[justthinking]

Max" which is probably why I don't get invited to many dinner parties". Me: adding Max to the top of my ' who I'd invite to dinner ' list

[MrAranton]

This makes me wonder: Maybe in the medieval "ginger" was a more generic term than it is today. In my native language German, "Pfeffer" used to refer to any kind of spices that packed heat, and not just what we know as pepper today. Perhaps medieval English referred to many 'hot' spices as "ginger" even they had nothing to with ginger as we understand the term today?

[booradley]

The gingerbread man walks into the gingerbread house. He sees that the material of the house is the same as his flesh. Is he made of house, or is the house made of flesh? He screams, for he does not know.

[SocialStudiesMrStockford]

I got to go to one of the oldest, still functioning gingerbread factories in Europe, in Toruń, Poland. They've got a whole museum. Bottom level is medieval themed, top level is industrial revolution. Great visit if you can

[StonedtotheBones]

"clove is really really strong". Me: flashes back to this morning when I spilled a bunch of cloves in my pancakes "that is correct". Also I feel oddly guilty and also grateful that I live in a time when I can have cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and chocolate in my peasant food.

[DrLesleyStevens]

I see your campaign to bring back the use of "bedight" is going well.

[NickPoeschek]

Really interesting linguistic point on what “lengh” could mean. Since you have been jumping around through different eras, you’re actually pretty well placed to notice some of these trends in language usage.

[egcdsib]

Last time I was this early, Max’s kitchen didn’t smell like Garum.

[ayla]

I absolutely adore you, “Gingerbread was neither GINGER nor BREAD....DISCUSS!”. Your videos are such a precise balance of history, humor, and hunger cravings. You make such fascinating content and I appreciate you exist, you deserve all the abundance and joy in the world; I hope you and your loved ones are happy and healthy. 💙

[mariapankowska]

I actually come from Toruń. Polish word for gingerbread is "piernik" an the word "pierny" is a bit archaic expression for spicy/peppery, because in torunski piernik, amongst other spices there was actually pepper. Greetings from Poland and happy Christmas time!

[ryee]

As someone who got her BA and MA in linguistics, you would definitely be invited to my dinner parties!! These language things are the things I like to talk at LENGH-TH about

[lilithhellea]

For i'm from Germany, i do appreciate Max's efforts to prenounce German words and names correctly, and yes. I'm pretty satisfied with his efforts!

Max, you did indeed a good job on being accurate!!

[alto]

it's EXTREMELY validating to see that someone else dreams of owning an antique springerle mold

[BTVRhoenrad]

Just for information: in Germany, a guild was formed for everything and everything was regulated. The best example is the "Reihnheitsgebot" for beer.

[shylocreek]

You mention that they probably didn't eat the full cloves, but I think it's in the realm of possibility. Not because I particularly know much about food history, but because it's something that my grandpa picked up because he read somewhere that it was a good natural breath mint and that dentist's used it to numb patients mouths for procedures back in the day. I think he mostly did it for the fun story, but it caught on. I know he started it as a trend and ended up getting several of the old church elders to carry around altoid tins of whole cloves. He tried to get us kids into it, but those are pretty strong sensations for a 6 year old. Though it did eventually get me into enjoying clove flavored gum for nostalgias sake 😊

[oisinholz]

To anyone out there who has never tried Lebkuchen, I HIGHLY recommend trying it. I have the wonderful privilege of having a German father and bah gawd Lebkuchen might be my favourite thing around the holiday season!

[ostanes]

Greetings from Germany.
My grandma used to make gingerbread houses for Christmas.
One for all 4 of her children families.

My aunt continues this also. So this tradition is not dead yet. :)

[thebratqueen]

I appreciate the accuracy of the gingerbread given to Sir Walter "Rather a Wally" Rahleigh. It's these little details that take the videos from good to great. *chef's kiss*

[gemellodipriapo]

I've come across an Italian recipe of the period that uses polenta instead of bread crumbs. It also incorporates raisins. it's like a gingery Garibaldi biscuit.