[Sca-cooks] Lebkuchen question

[Helen Schultz]

Gwen Cat:

According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebkuchen) it is from 
the 13th century.

This site http://www.serve.com/shea/germusa/lebkuch.htm says it is 14th 
century.

Nuerenberger Lebkuchen's site 
http://www.lebkuchen.nuernberg.de/englische_version/namen.html just says it 
is Medieval.

Hope this helps you a little.  None of the sites I saw go into in-depth 
details about the history, though.  I just did a Google search <shrug>, but 
then, I love the stuff (and can't eat much of it anymore because of health 
concerns <sigh>)... the best I've purchased was from E. Otto Schmidt 
Lebkuchen.

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Meisterin Katarina Helene von Schönborn, OL
Shire of Narrental (Peru, Indiana)  http://narrental.home.comcast.net
Middle Kingdom
http://meisterin.katarina.home.comcast.net

"A room without books is like a body without a soul." -- Cicero

"The danger in life is not that we aim too high and miss.
The problem is that we aim too low and hit the mark."  -- Michaelangelo

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----- Original Message ----- 


Greetings again, from a Curious Gwen Cat

I feel I should know the answer to this, but dont, so:

What is the history of Lebkuchen, perhaps including
the origin of the name.  I know the period era
Lebkuchen/gingerbread is not like the modern cake like
version. So Im curious, where did it originate (either
the boiled honey version or other things) and where
when how did the more modern holiday treat emerge.
For that matter, when and where did the association
with the winter holidays come from since nowadays you
(or at least I) cant imagine December without
lebkuchen herzen and domino stones and all those other
chocolate/gingerbread treats that threaten my recently
schrunken waistline.

In Service and Curiosity
Gwen Cat