[Sca-cooks] Lebkuchen question

[Volker Bach]

Am Montag, 12. Dezember 2005 08:58 schrieb Stefan li Rous:
> A Curious Gwen Cat asked:
>
> 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.
> <<<
>
> I wasn't aware of a connection between Lebkuchen and gingerbread,
> however perhaps I'm just not familiar with Lebkuchen. I'm not at all
> familiar with what you mean by "lebkuchen herzen" or "domino stones".
> Or is the last what you play dominos with?

I think the German 'Lebkuchen'/'Honigkuchen' and the English 'gingerbread' 
basically describe the same tradition line. 'Lebkuchen' comes in all 
varieties from hard, brittle biscuit-style through chewy, heavy dough 
chock-full of raisins and nuts to soft, fluffy sponge. (I'll be visiting the 
Nuremberg Christkindlmarkt next week, so if you want I can bring back some 
photos. They don't share recipes). The basic connection is 
flour-honey-spices, and theat is a lot like gingerbread, or pain d'epices, 
for that matter.

Lebkuchen Herzen are a relatively modern German development, little hearts 
made of soft lebkuchen with a jelly filling and chocolate coating (the jelly 
filling is optional). They are ubiquitous around Christmas. The same goes for 
'Domino Stones', a confection made of layered lebkuchen, jelly, and marzipan 
but into cubes and coated in chocolate. As kids, we ate them 'by layers'. The 
trick was to know where to bite so the marzipan sepatates cleanly from the 
jelly.

Giano


	

	
		
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