MR. AND MRS. GINGERBREAD DECORATING CONTEST AT 32ND ANNUAL FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS
By Doris Reynolds (Contact)

Naples Daily News
-and-mrs-gingerbread-decorating-contest-32nd-ann/
Nov 18 2008
FL

Move over, Santa Claus. Here comes Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread. Although
you will take center stage on Monday evening in Old Naples, this
sweet and snappy couple will join you.

Third Street will be celebrating its 32nd annual Festival of
Lights, and Naples Backyard History is adding to the festivities
by sponsoring a Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread Decorating Contest. Chefs
at the restaurants in Old Naples and Crayton Cove will decorate the
2-foot tall gingerbread couple along with a 6-foot Gingerbread Master
of Ceremonies at a "carol-okee" and Christmas cookie duck decorating
contest.

The giant gingerbread cookies will be on display for a week at
the mini-museum in Backyard History headquarters at 1300 Third
St. S. Afterward, Girl Scout Troop 473 and Backyard History volunteers
will distribute gingerbread cookies to seniors living in extended
care homes.

It is only natural that gingerbread be included in the
celebration. This delicious and traditional Christmas treat has a
fascinating history of its own. According to food historians, Queen
Elizabeth I of England invented the "gingerbread man."

The English colonists brought ginger to the New World, since it was
regarded as the second most highly valued spice after pepper. And
it played an important part in early American politics when ginger
cookies were handed out to persuade Virginia voters to elect certain
candidates for the House of Burgesses.

Traditional gingerbread used honey as the only sweetening agent. More
modern recipes now call for molasses. Its preparation goes back to the
Romans who prepared "panis mellitus," a cake made from German wheat
flour, honey, pepper and dried fruit. The Chinese devised their own
recipe for "honey bread" and is mentioned as part of the rations for
the legions led by Genghis Khan.

During the Crusades gingerbread was introduced to the Europeans. The
sweet was brought to France by an Armenian bishop who took refuge
there in the 11th century. And since honey was readily available,
gingerbread quickly became a favorite in Holland, England, Germany,
Belgium, France and Italy.

While spending a holiday in southern France, near Toulouse and the
village of Saint-Antoine, I discovered that the village was known for
its gingerbread. The cookie was primarily a delicacy at the annual
Gingerbread Fair. It all began in the 11th century when local monks
sold their own gingerbread in the shape of various animals, children
and flowers– and nativity scenes during the Christmas holiday.

In France, gingerbread is known as pain d’epice (spice bread) and
while it contains flour, honey, sugar, egg yolks and anise, there is
no ginger. The dough is filled with candied fruits and preserves and
baked into round, rectangular and square loaves. During the first week
in December there is a festival — La Fete Du Pain D’Epice in Dijon —
celebrating this holiday treat.

There is even a museum that exhibits the history of the spice
bread. Artisans throughout France converge on the city to demonstrate
their creativity in originating whimsical and unique versions of
the sweet.

The English have been most faithful to the tradition of
gingerbread. Chaucer glorified gingerbread when Sir Thopan in
Canterbury Tales said, "They fette hym first the sweet syn, and mede
eek in a mazelyn, and roial spicerye of gyngebreed that was ful fyn,
and lycory, and eek comyn, with sugre that is trye."

There are English cookbooks going back to the 14th and 15th centuries
with recipes for gingerbread. These formulas do not resemble the
more modern ways of making it. All used honey for sweeteners and also
contained saffron, powdered pepper, bread crumbs, ginger and cinnamon.

It will be gala evening in Old Naples on Monday for everyone in
the family. However, Santa and the Mr. and Mrs. Gingerbread will
be especially sweet and spicy for the young-uns. Perhaps all will
be inspired to create some gingerbread cookies and their very own
gingerbread men.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress