December 2010, Issue 11
Foods In Miniature
Page 68
Run, Run, fast as you can
Did you know that the first gingerbread man has been attributed to Queen Elizabeth I who delighted visiting dignitaries by presenting them with one baked in their own likeness? Or that in 11th century Paris monks sold gingerbread pigs? Or that in the Middle Ages, medieval ladies gave gingerbread cakes to their favourite knights? Even Shakespeare refers to it in "Love's Labour's Lost" 'And I had but one penny in the world, thou should'st have it to buy gingerbread.'
On a more practical note, before the age of refrigeration aromatic crumbled gingerbread was added to recipes to mask the odor of decaying meat! Lovely!
The Yule log or Bûche de Noël, is another Christmas favourite, either real or in miniature.
Yet again, this sweet Christmas treat has its origins in tradition. Originally, the Yule Log was a whole tree, carefully chosen and ceremoniously brought into the house. The largest end of the log would be placed into the fire hearth with the rest of the tree sticking out into the room and then slowly fed into the fire through the Twelve Days of Christmas! The whole tree often didn't burn,
TOP, Christmas foods by IGMA Artisan Sandra Palesch
BOTTOM, Gingerbread house by Nathalie Gireaud
so the new tree would be lit from the remains of
the previous year's log which had been carefully
stored away. Can you imagine the difficulty of
burning a whole tree on your fire today?
Custom Dolls, Houses & Miniatures / CDHM