1 00:00:09,119 --> 00:00:11,840 Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome to food Stuff. I'm Annyries and I'm 2 00:00:11,920 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: Lauren voc Obama, and today it's Christmas in July, apparently 3 00:00:16,560 --> 00:00:21,759 Speaker 1: because we're talking about gingerbread. Yes, we could not wait 4 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: for the holidays. It was impossible to ask you you 5 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: could not wait for the holidays. And I was willing 6 00:00:27,360 --> 00:00:30,800 Speaker 1: to come on this journey with you. Well you sold 7 00:00:30,840 --> 00:00:32,639 Speaker 1: me out right at the beginning, Lauren. But that's ok, 8 00:00:33,080 --> 00:00:36,920 Speaker 1: that's okay, not sorry. I really want to get to 9 00:00:36,960 --> 00:00:40,400 Speaker 1: the bottom of those dang houses. I want to know 10 00:00:40,600 --> 00:00:46,360 Speaker 1: why people do that, and we will talk about that absolutely, 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: and I have right at the front. I feel like 12 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,680 Speaker 1: we could do this entire episode about just my gingerbread 13 00:00:51,720 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: memories because I've got a lot of them. Yeah. Yeah, 14 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,360 Speaker 1: And one one of my favorites is that every every 15 00:00:59,720 --> 00:01:04,560 Speaker 1: Chris Smiths my family makes gingerbread. Um, we do make 16 00:01:04,600 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: the pudding variety, which I've learned is not technically ginger 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:10,080 Speaker 1: with some people like to fight with me over whether 18 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:12,640 Speaker 1: or not that's really ginger. So what's the pudding variety 19 00:01:12,840 --> 00:01:15,160 Speaker 1: you like? Put butter Scotch pudding in there. They're much 20 00:01:15,200 --> 00:01:20,600 Speaker 1: softer and less like spicier. I prefer them but yeah, 21 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:23,600 Speaker 1: you know, people like to fight about those things. Um, 22 00:01:24,440 --> 00:01:27,920 Speaker 1: so we make them every Christmas. And one Christmas when 23 00:01:27,959 --> 00:01:31,960 Speaker 1: I was fourteen, I had my best friend over and 24 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,360 Speaker 1: we made the gingerbread and it's kind of a big ordeal, 25 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: Like we frost them, we sprinkled the whole thing, the 26 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:40,759 Speaker 1: whole thing. It takes eight minutes for them to cook. 27 00:01:41,640 --> 00:01:47,680 Speaker 1: So I remember this because I came downstairs hoping to 28 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,760 Speaker 1: enjoy a wonderful, warm plate of cookies and instead I 29 00:01:51,840 --> 00:01:55,720 Speaker 1: find a note taped to the oven and it says, 30 00:01:55,760 --> 00:02:00,400 Speaker 1: you can't catch me. I'm the gingerbread Man. And it 31 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:04,240 Speaker 1: was followed by a clue as to where his whereabouts. 32 00:02:04,480 --> 00:02:07,520 Speaker 1: Oh my goodness, this did he lead? Lead you on 33 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:14,000 Speaker 1: a scavenger Huh? He did? There were fourteen clues, fourteen clues, 34 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,840 Speaker 1: and my friend and I, fourteen years old, had to 35 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,040 Speaker 1: go on the scavenger hunt. And my mom it was 36 00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:26,360 Speaker 1: my mom surprise, surprise, it wasn't. It wasn't actually the 37 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:29,080 Speaker 1: gingerbread Man. But I love act. She thought to do 38 00:02:29,160 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: this for the first time, as were like teenagers. But 39 00:02:33,720 --> 00:02:36,560 Speaker 1: we loved it so much that we kind of begrudgingly 40 00:02:36,600 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 1: asked her to do it. Again next year, and it 41 00:02:39,400 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: became a tradition. Um. And another thing I love about 42 00:02:43,120 --> 00:02:45,760 Speaker 1: our gingerbread tradition is my younger brother used to make 43 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: what he would call a broken home. He would make 44 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: like you're traditional, because we had a woman and a 45 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:54,920 Speaker 1: daughter and a son. He would just make a bunch 46 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:57,720 Speaker 1: of them and then he's like ripped their arms off 47 00:02:57,919 --> 00:03:00,799 Speaker 1: and stick them on their heads or whatever. And then 48 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: he'd put a heart in the middle and he'd break 49 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: it in half. And when I asked him why he 50 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: did this, he said, we're gonna bite their heads off. Anyway. 51 00:03:08,800 --> 00:03:11,040 Speaker 1: He revealed to me that that messed him up for 52 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 1: a while as a kid because he was younger when 53 00:03:12,840 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: the gingerbread man ran away at our house and when 54 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,680 Speaker 1: he thought, well, if it's an animate, living being and 55 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,840 Speaker 1: we're just eating it, it really wow. It really did 56 00:03:23,840 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: a game number one. Well, I hope he's recovered. I 57 00:03:28,960 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: think so, I do have some funny pictures I should 58 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: perhaps post of the broken home. That does sound pretty great. 59 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:41,480 Speaker 1: It's very creative. I've got to say. Um, yeah, so 60 00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:45,160 Speaker 1: I have a lot of experience with gingerbread in my lifetime. Yeah, 61 00:03:45,240 --> 00:03:48,240 Speaker 1: I I do not have such a strong gingerbread family 62 00:03:48,280 --> 00:03:52,760 Speaker 1: tradition are are cookie decorating is usually with sugar cookies 63 00:03:52,840 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: in my home. That's my dad's preferred He would very 64 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,760 Speaker 1: much prefer if we did that as opposed to gingerbread, 65 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:05,800 Speaker 1: but outvoted. Yeah, yeah, I you know, I like cookies. 66 00:04:05,920 --> 00:04:08,800 Speaker 1: I can't really. Oh my gosh, me too. My cookie 67 00:04:09,000 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: dessert chart, well, my dessert chart cookies out the top. 68 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: Cookies and pie and doughnuts are number those are the 69 00:04:14,880 --> 00:04:19,920 Speaker 1: top three. Anyway, Um, this will probably be a future 70 00:04:20,000 --> 00:04:22,960 Speaker 1: food fairy tale. Yeah, totally, yeah, we should. I would 71 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 1: love to do a good dramatic reading of a gingerbread 72 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:28,800 Speaker 1: man story. It. There are, as it turns out, all 73 00:04:28,920 --> 00:04:31,520 Speaker 1: long history of those things, and I'll get into that 74 00:04:32,040 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: in a little while. But yes, in the meanwhile, gingerbread, 75 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:44,440 Speaker 1: what is it? Great question because originally, like medieval Europe, 76 00:04:44,480 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 1: originally gingerbread simply meant preserved ginger. It didn't shift to 77 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:53,240 Speaker 1: encompass the desserts we think of nowadays until the fifteen century, 78 00:04:53,279 --> 00:04:56,839 Speaker 1: and that nowadays definition is pretty loose. A combination of 79 00:04:56,880 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: ginger and a sweetener like sugar, treacle, molasses, and we're honey. 80 00:05:00,279 --> 00:05:03,400 Speaker 1: Uh yeah, A variety of baked goods are called gingerbread, 81 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:07,200 Speaker 1: from cakes ranging from dense to delicate, and cookies ranging 82 00:05:07,279 --> 00:05:11,120 Speaker 1: from soft, too chewy to crunchy. Ginger and a non 83 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:14,320 Speaker 1: white form of sugar are the most important ingredients of 84 00:05:14,360 --> 00:05:17,360 Speaker 1: brown sugar, molasses, and etcetera helped give ginger bread it's 85 00:05:17,360 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: it's distinctive kind of roasty color, but it's also frequently 86 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: seasoned with other warm wintry spices like cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg. 87 00:05:24,800 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: And of course, because it's a baked good, butter and 88 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: flour are usually involved or some some lacrum thereof. In 89 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: many traditions, the cookies are shaped and decorated with candies 90 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,640 Speaker 1: and white icing or glaze, or maybe covered with chocolate 91 00:05:37,720 --> 00:05:41,920 Speaker 1: or filled with sweet stuff like marzipan. That reminds me 92 00:05:42,160 --> 00:05:46,240 Speaker 1: one of my first memories is making gingerbread house. Yeah yeah, 93 00:05:46,279 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 1: I had a big party um and we all made 94 00:05:49,600 --> 00:05:52,240 Speaker 1: gingerbread houses. I think it's my third birth Oh my goodness. 95 00:05:52,440 --> 00:05:56,320 Speaker 1: Huh yeah, that seems like a a tall order for 96 00:05:56,360 --> 00:05:59,039 Speaker 1: three year olds. It's a lot of destroying of the 97 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:01,800 Speaker 1: gingerbread houses for sure, and a lot of just sticking 98 00:06:01,839 --> 00:06:05,880 Speaker 1: gum drops everywhere design. Oh yeah, I think this house 99 00:06:05,880 --> 00:06:09,040 Speaker 1: has already made and we were just decorating them anyway, 100 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: lots of memories in this old brain. The name gingerbread 101 00:06:13,880 --> 00:06:17,279 Speaker 1: itself is probably derived from the Latin derivation of the 102 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,640 Speaker 1: Sanskrit word for horns or antlers, and that's referencing the 103 00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:24,640 Speaker 1: shape of the ginger roots. And this spawned the French 104 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:28,440 Speaker 1: word jeanjenbras and not a long walk to gingerbread from there. 105 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:30,840 Speaker 1: And there's a lot of different types of gingerbread around 106 00:06:30,880 --> 00:06:34,120 Speaker 1: the world, as you could probably guess, and building gingerbread 107 00:06:34,200 --> 00:06:38,800 Speaker 1: houses is no joke. In parts of Germany, Russia, Poland 108 00:06:38,839 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: and the Czech Republic and France, there are gingerbread regulations 109 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:46,279 Speaker 1: sanctioned by the government Circle of the Middle Ages. There's 110 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:49,279 Speaker 1: a museum of gingerbread in turn, Poland. It's on the 111 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,240 Speaker 1: site of a gingerbread factory that opened back in five 112 00:06:52,320 --> 00:06:56,200 Speaker 1: and ran for a whole century. In Turn, bakers still 113 00:06:56,279 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: guard their recipes like very carefully, but apparently they involve 114 00:07:01,920 --> 00:07:05,680 Speaker 1: aging the dough for up to a year, which means 115 00:07:06,440 --> 00:07:13,160 Speaker 1: that my very favorite thing is probably involved bacteria. Boop. 116 00:07:13,520 --> 00:07:16,160 Speaker 1: I wonder how many people said that with you. I 117 00:07:16,240 --> 00:07:20,120 Speaker 1: like to hope at least too A solid too is 118 00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:24,160 Speaker 1: that I'm hoping. If you're curious as to why gingerbread 119 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:28,400 Speaker 1: are such a fall winter treat, it might be because, um, 120 00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:31,000 Speaker 1: a lot of those spices present in gingerbread cookies or 121 00:07:31,080 --> 00:07:34,960 Speaker 1: gingerbread were believed to have warming abilities and it kind 122 00:07:34,960 --> 00:07:37,360 Speaker 1: of makes you wonder about the warm feeling you get 123 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:40,960 Speaker 1: from comfort food, or it did for me at least. Um. 124 00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: These spices also were reminiscent of the gifts of the 125 00:07:43,920 --> 00:07:47,760 Speaker 1: Magi to Baby Jesus. And speaking of it's also possible 126 00:07:47,760 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: that since the cookies are meant to look like men, 127 00:07:50,560 --> 00:07:54,120 Speaker 1: but they kind of really more looked like babies, they 128 00:07:54,200 --> 00:07:57,640 Speaker 1: might have come to represent the baby Jesus. Yeah yea. 129 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,440 Speaker 1: And of course gingerbread is all so a flavor now. Um. 130 00:08:01,520 --> 00:08:05,200 Speaker 1: You can find recipes online for gingerbread brownies and cookie 131 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,520 Speaker 1: bars and trifles and cupcakes and cheesecakes and layer cakes 132 00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:12,520 Speaker 1: and popcorn and French toast, you name it. The gingerbread latte, 133 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:17,640 Speaker 1: the gingerbread latte, Yes, I look. Gingerbread pancakes served with 134 00:08:17,720 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: lemon curd is one of the best things on the 135 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: whole planet, and diners that serve it year round are 136 00:08:22,360 --> 00:08:25,520 Speaker 1: the very best diners you can fight me. I'm on 137 00:08:25,560 --> 00:08:27,800 Speaker 1: board and I want to go now. I've never had 138 00:08:27,840 --> 00:08:32,319 Speaker 1: that before, and I love gingerbread here here in Atlanta, Java, 139 00:08:32,400 --> 00:08:36,679 Speaker 1: give does it. There's my My original gingerbread pancake experience 140 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:38,800 Speaker 1: was in Austin, and I'm forgetting the name of the 141 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:41,880 Speaker 1: place off the top of my head, but it was 142 00:08:42,679 --> 00:08:48,080 Speaker 1: clearly like a transcendental experience for me. Wow. All right, well, 143 00:08:48,120 --> 00:08:52,440 Speaker 1: I'm adding that to the to do list. Gingerbread has 144 00:08:52,440 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: shown up in a lot of cultural things as well 145 00:08:56,040 --> 00:08:59,160 Speaker 1: a lot of media. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Um. Gingerbread 146 00:08:59,200 --> 00:09:02,880 Speaker 1: cookies were the couple in question in the Cookie Suit Trap. 147 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 1: The gingerbread people are the main characters in the game Candyland. Um. 148 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,079 Speaker 1: They also make up the Nutcracker's Army and the Nutcracker 149 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,000 Speaker 1: Gingerbread men guest starred on The Muppet Show Operated by 150 00:09:14,080 --> 00:09:17,240 Speaker 1: Frank oz Um and the Geni. Of course, in the 151 00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:20,600 Speaker 1: film series Shrek and I seem to remember some violent 152 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: gingerbread men in Crampus. It sounds right, I believe. So 153 00:09:24,920 --> 00:09:27,319 Speaker 1: there's a whole scene where people are getting not killed, 154 00:09:27,320 --> 00:09:32,040 Speaker 1: but hurt very very badly by cookies. Um. There's the 155 00:09:32,120 --> 00:09:35,280 Speaker 1: Robert Altman film The gingerbread Man with Kenneth Brenna and 156 00:09:35,400 --> 00:09:39,880 Speaker 1: Robert Downey Jr. Which is a legal thriller despite the name. Um. 157 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,559 Speaker 1: And I also saw a really bad horror movie called 158 00:09:42,679 --> 00:09:47,600 Speaker 1: The ginger dead Man, where the ashes of a serial 159 00:09:47,679 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: killer were added into a gingerbread mix and then baked 160 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:56,720 Speaker 1: into one murderous cookie. And the sequels are called Passion 161 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:02,240 Speaker 1: of the Crust and Saturday Night Cleaver. M hmmmm. There's 162 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:07,640 Speaker 1: also that Stephen King novela The Gingerbread Girl. It's true. Yeah. Um. 163 00:10:07,679 --> 00:10:11,439 Speaker 1: The Brothers Grim never included a gingerbread man type story 164 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:14,679 Speaker 1: in their collections, but the two thousand five Terry Gilliam 165 00:10:14,679 --> 00:10:17,840 Speaker 1: film The Brothers Graham did feature this like mud monster 166 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:21,240 Speaker 1: gingerbread man that sort of like possesses or rather like 167 00:10:21,320 --> 00:10:26,200 Speaker 1: absorbs a little boy. Yeah. Um. And there is of 168 00:10:26,240 --> 00:10:30,200 Speaker 1: course the fairy tale than the gingerbread Man, right, which 169 00:10:30,200 --> 00:10:32,319 Speaker 1: we will discuss a little bit more in Death La there. 170 00:10:32,679 --> 00:10:36,680 Speaker 1: And also aside one of my personal greatest fears, the 171 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:40,839 Speaker 1: runners Runs are runners diarrhea also goes by the gingerbread Man, 172 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:46,520 Speaker 1: and going back to the novella by Stephen King, maybe 173 00:10:47,040 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: it's about a woman who runs too much, and it's called, yeah, 174 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:53,840 Speaker 1: the gingerbread girls. So it could just be because like, 175 00:10:53,920 --> 00:10:56,200 Speaker 1: run can't catch me? If you can, it's pretty good. 176 00:10:56,440 --> 00:10:59,280 Speaker 1: Run run yeah, I see yeah, yeah, well I I 177 00:10:59,480 --> 00:11:03,200 Speaker 1: my mind is immediately like runners runs. My goodness, what 178 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: a nightmare it is. Stephen King. The nutritional qualities of 179 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,839 Speaker 1: gingerbread perhaps obviously very vastly, depending on the recipe that 180 00:11:12,880 --> 00:11:15,160 Speaker 1: you use. But you know, generally, y'all, it's a it's 181 00:11:15,160 --> 00:11:18,359 Speaker 1: a sweetened baked good. So it's a treat, not a 182 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:22,720 Speaker 1: health food. Yeah. I only eat gingerbread the time we 183 00:11:22,800 --> 00:11:25,280 Speaker 1: make it, generally in a year, but I do eat 184 00:11:25,320 --> 00:11:28,760 Speaker 1: the entire plate of cookies. Oh yeah, yeah, I mean 185 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:31,560 Speaker 1: it's like, well, I don't need to justify you do. 186 00:11:31,679 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 1: Not to myself perhaps, but not to you. Um, if 187 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: we're talking about gingerbread numbers. Gingerbread is one of the 188 00:11:40,120 --> 00:11:43,000 Speaker 1: most popular winter holiday cookies in the US and in 189 00:11:43,120 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 1: much of Europe. In a New York chef by the 190 00:11:46,280 --> 00:11:49,920 Speaker 1: name of John Lovitch created a gingerbread village that covered 191 00:11:50,040 --> 00:11:53,280 Speaker 1: three hundred square feet that's about twenty square meters and 192 00:11:53,320 --> 00:11:57,280 Speaker 1: consisted of one point five tons of gingerbread structures including 193 00:11:57,320 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: a hundred and thirty five residential buildings, twenty two commercial buildings, 194 00:12:01,160 --> 00:12:05,120 Speaker 1: cable cars, and an underground subway. We don't even have 195 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:09,600 Speaker 1: cable cars. That sounds like bigger than some small towns. 196 00:12:10,520 --> 00:12:15,600 Speaker 1: It wasn't small, so medium sized town. Yeah. Traditions Golf 197 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:18,560 Speaker 1: Club and Byron, Texas currently holds the record for largest 198 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,280 Speaker 1: gingerbread house. How big was it? To ask? It was 199 00:12:22,320 --> 00:12:27,080 Speaker 1: big enough to need a permit? What? Yeah? Forty cubic 200 00:12:27,240 --> 00:12:31,600 Speaker 1: feet like many houses that used bricks, only these four 201 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:35,080 Speaker 1: thousand bricks were made of ginger and that took one thousand, 202 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:37,520 Speaker 1: eight hundred pounds of butter and over one thousand ounces 203 00:12:37,559 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: of ground ginger. It was huge. There is also a 204 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: Guinness record for the largest gingerbread man. It was created 205 00:12:45,520 --> 00:12:49,120 Speaker 1: by an Ikea in Oslo, Norway, in two thousand nine. 206 00:12:49,640 --> 00:12:52,319 Speaker 1: He weighed six hundred and fifty one kilos that's about 207 00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,720 Speaker 1: one thousand, four hundred and thirty five pounds and was 208 00:12:55,760 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: baked in a single piece. And y'all look look this 209 00:12:59,240 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: one up. The photo on the Guinness website is something 210 00:13:02,480 --> 00:13:05,920 Speaker 1: that producer Dylan described as it's like a group of 211 00:13:05,960 --> 00:13:09,880 Speaker 1: scientists have this gingerbread man cryogenically frozen, and some of 212 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:12,360 Speaker 1: them are like, don't wake it up, it's a bad idea, 213 00:13:12,440 --> 00:13:13,920 Speaker 1: and others are like, no, no, no no, it's going to 214 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,560 Speaker 1: be totally fine, he said, And I agree that he's 215 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:20,320 Speaker 1: never seen a group of people look so serious about 216 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:24,400 Speaker 1: gingerbread and he's never seen ginger dead man either. No. 217 00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: I guess not. I guess not. Well, it's a cautionary too. 218 00:13:30,040 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: I you know, who are we to play gods of 219 00:13:32,840 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: ginger I don't know, but they are kind of apparently. 220 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: We're not the only ones who think they're a little frightening, 221 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:43,760 Speaker 1: because they do show up in a lot of horror. Yeah, 222 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:47,480 Speaker 1: I was. I was scared by the Brothers Graham Terry 223 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:52,480 Speaker 1: Gillian version. Oh yeah, it's frightening. I UM one last 224 00:13:52,480 --> 00:13:58,400 Speaker 1: gingerbread memory from me. I last, I think last Christmas. UM. 225 00:13:58,440 --> 00:14:02,199 Speaker 1: Two christmases ago. I went on a very long cruise 226 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:06,959 Speaker 1: with my then boyfriend and UM it was the second 227 00:14:07,080 --> 00:14:10,920 Speaker 1: largest cruise ship in the world, and it had a 228 00:14:10,920 --> 00:14:14,320 Speaker 1: gingerbread display that was so realistic looking. I didn't realize 229 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:18,200 Speaker 1: it was gingerbread until I'd walked past it, like several 230 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:22,000 Speaker 1: days in rrow. I thought it was like model houses. Heck, 231 00:14:22,560 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: it was gingerbread. Very impressive. That is impressive. Uh. Speaking 232 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,480 Speaker 1: of memories and history, we have some more gingerbread history 233 00:14:31,520 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: for you that isn't just Annie's. But first we have 234 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:47,880 Speaker 1: a quick break for a word from our sponsor, and 235 00:14:48,080 --> 00:14:51,480 Speaker 1: we're back. Thank you sponsored, Yes, thank you. Ginger root 236 00:14:51,600 --> 00:14:55,600 Speaker 1: has roots all the way back to ancient China, where 237 00:14:55,680 --> 00:14:59,520 Speaker 1: it was used medicinally. The Silk Road helps spread ginger 238 00:14:59,640 --> 00:15:02,120 Speaker 1: eventu to Europe, where it was a popular spice due 239 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:05,200 Speaker 1: to its ability to mask the flavor of rotten meats 240 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,720 Speaker 1: and the flavor of better leaveners like potash that were 241 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:13,000 Speaker 1: used to make baked goods fluffier at the time. It 242 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:16,800 Speaker 1: may have arrived to Western Europe, in particular via crusaders 243 00:15:16,840 --> 00:15:20,520 Speaker 1: returning from the Middle East in the eleventh century. Oh, 244 00:15:20,560 --> 00:15:23,560 Speaker 1: and also the ancient Egyptians might have used it in 245 00:15:23,640 --> 00:15:28,560 Speaker 1: ceremonial practices. The ancient Romans eight gingerbread, but what was 246 00:15:28,760 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: more like honey cakes, probably to rev up their libido. 247 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:35,320 Speaker 1: And possibly these cakes were shaped like men with all 248 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:41,240 Speaker 1: the right anatomical bits. Ancient Romans, Oh, ancient Romans. Yes, 249 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:43,920 Speaker 1: the ancient Chinese weren't the only ones that thought ginger 250 00:15:43,960 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: had beneficial health properties. Henry the Eighth snapped it up, 251 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: and that's a ginger snaps pun for one more horror 252 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:54,280 Speaker 1: movie reference in there um, and he mixed it up 253 00:15:54,280 --> 00:15:56,480 Speaker 1: with a couple of other things in hopes of staving 254 00:15:56,520 --> 00:16:00,800 Speaker 1: off the plague. Ginger is still used for things like 255 00:16:00,920 --> 00:16:03,920 Speaker 1: upset stomachs and nausea. I was given some on a 256 00:16:03,920 --> 00:16:07,800 Speaker 1: cruise ship once for seasickness. European sailors working during the 257 00:16:07,880 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: whaling and globalization colonization kind of eras would buy hard 258 00:16:12,320 --> 00:16:15,120 Speaker 1: gingerbread to take out with them on long voyages for 259 00:16:15,200 --> 00:16:19,200 Speaker 1: the purpose of settling their stomachs. Hold up, though, the 260 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: first recipe for gingerbread may have first appeared as early 261 00:16:22,200 --> 00:16:25,400 Speaker 1: as two thousand four b c E out of ancient Greece, 262 00:16:25,600 --> 00:16:29,160 Speaker 1: but this according to the book Making Gingerbread Houses by 263 00:16:29,240 --> 00:16:32,640 Speaker 1: Rhonda Massing of Heart. Ancient China followed suit with their 264 00:16:32,640 --> 00:16:35,760 Speaker 1: own recipe in tenth century c E. And then yes, 265 00:16:35,880 --> 00:16:39,280 Speaker 1: by the Middle Ages, Europe had their own take. And yes, 266 00:16:39,360 --> 00:16:42,400 Speaker 1: at first it was a rich person food. Oh yeah, 267 00:16:42,440 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: I mean, you know you needed the sugar to make 268 00:16:44,080 --> 00:16:47,680 Speaker 1: it sweet. You needed the spices which were expensive, Oh 269 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:51,280 Speaker 1: so expensive. Um and this year p n resip is 270 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,200 Speaker 1: closing in on our modern version. It referred to a 271 00:16:54,280 --> 00:16:56,800 Speaker 1: hard cookie that may or may not have been predecked 272 00:16:56,800 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: in gold guilding, similar to the guilding on colonial American houses. 273 00:17:01,640 --> 00:17:05,679 Speaker 1: Um and that's sometimes referred to as gingerbread work. Um 274 00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:09,359 Speaker 1: and These cookies were possibly shaped like kings, queens and animals. 275 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:12,240 Speaker 1: If you were to attend to fair in England, France, 276 00:17:12,280 --> 00:17:15,240 Speaker 1: Germany and Holland during this time, you were pretty much 277 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:19,120 Speaker 1: guaranteed to run into one of these gingerbreads, so much 278 00:17:19,160 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 1: so that they became known as gingerbread fairs, and the 279 00:17:22,440 --> 00:17:27,639 Speaker 1: cookies themselves were sometimes called fairings. Huh. By eighty we 280 00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:30,960 Speaker 1: have references to a Polish version of gingerbread cookies called 281 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:33,919 Speaker 1: per nicki, derived from the word pepper. A lot of 282 00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:37,400 Speaker 1: Northern European countries words for gingerbread tend to derive from pepper, 283 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 1: including maybe my favorite, the Norwegian pepper cocker pepper cocker? 284 00:17:43,880 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 1: Isn't it fun to say? It is? That's fun? Um? 285 00:17:48,200 --> 00:17:51,360 Speaker 1: In Germany, these cookies often had messages on them, similar 286 00:17:51,400 --> 00:17:55,760 Speaker 1: to the candy slash sweethearts. Um, you're super all I 287 00:17:55,800 --> 00:17:59,280 Speaker 1: need is you things like that. Nuremberg was known as 288 00:17:59,320 --> 00:18:03,240 Speaker 1: the gingerbread capital of the world in the sixt hundreds, 289 00:18:03,280 --> 00:18:07,600 Speaker 1: and that city's museum houses the oldest known recorded gingerbread recipe. 290 00:18:07,960 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: To this day, Nuremberg's gingerbread has quote protected geographical indication 291 00:18:13,040 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 1: from the European Union, like Champagne does in France. Um, 292 00:18:17,840 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: they don't make men so much as horses and hearts 293 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,040 Speaker 1: these days, though I read that the some other European 294 00:18:24,080 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: countries kind of look at as a skew for still 295 00:18:27,040 --> 00:18:32,160 Speaker 1: making them. Yeah, Holy Roman Emperor Frederick the Third handed 296 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:35,040 Speaker 1: out cookies that looked like him when he was campaigning, 297 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,440 Speaker 1: and seasons informed the shape. You'd find flowers denoted spring, 298 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,159 Speaker 1: for instance, or even armor. Ladies looking to grant their 299 00:18:43,280 --> 00:18:45,680 Speaker 1: night of choice lect during a tournament might present him 300 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: with a cookie or would eat a gingerbread husband to 301 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,199 Speaker 1: put out vibes to the universe that you're looking to 302 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:57,160 Speaker 1: secure a real, non cookie based man. But why though, 303 00:18:57,520 --> 00:19:00,000 Speaker 1: if you could have a cookie, I got a big 304 00:19:00,320 --> 00:19:05,040 Speaker 1: I got a big thing for cookies. These fancy gingerbread 305 00:19:05,040 --> 00:19:11,280 Speaker 1: cookies came to personify the English elite, and there were 306 00:19:11,280 --> 00:19:14,840 Speaker 1: all kinds of shape based superstitions. Dog for fidelity, a 307 00:19:14,880 --> 00:19:17,280 Speaker 1: pig for luck, a baby for a child, a lion 308 00:19:17,359 --> 00:19:21,399 Speaker 1: man for virility. There was even a Swedish legend that 309 00:19:21,480 --> 00:19:24,600 Speaker 1: it might grant wishes if you held a gingerbread and 310 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:27,440 Speaker 1: the palm of your hand made a wish and then 311 00:19:27,480 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: broke it with either your thumb or index finger, and 312 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:36,000 Speaker 1: it broke into three pieces, you wish would come true. Clearly, clearly, 313 00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,560 Speaker 1: I have to try that next time. The idea of 314 00:19:39,600 --> 00:19:43,119 Speaker 1: decorating cookies and shaping them is largely due to Elizabeth 315 00:19:43,119 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: the First who elevated the gingerbread cookie game when she 316 00:19:46,320 --> 00:19:49,359 Speaker 1: made cookies in the shapes of dignitaries on her courts. 317 00:19:49,920 --> 00:19:52,160 Speaker 1: And these cookies were made by whipping up a paste 318 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:55,600 Speaker 1: and pressing that that paste into wooden molds. And at 319 00:19:55,600 --> 00:19:58,359 Speaker 1: first this paste was a mixture of bread crumbs, almond, maile, sugar, 320 00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,879 Speaker 1: rose water, and ginger. In the sixteenth century, eggs came 321 00:20:01,880 --> 00:20:05,040 Speaker 1: into the equation along with other sweeteners. And you can 322 00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,120 Speaker 1: find these molds and museums today, and you'd find these 323 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,960 Speaker 1: cookies at weddings and wigs. And it was possibly accepted 324 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:13,160 Speaker 1: as currency in some parts of Europe for a short 325 00:20:13,200 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: amount of time and a fun story suggests that Elizabeth 326 00:20:16,320 --> 00:20:19,600 Speaker 1: First would only give a cookie modeled after your likeness 327 00:20:19,680 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: to you if you were worthy. She deemed you worthy. 328 00:20:23,720 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: If she found you coming up short, she'd eat the 329 00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 1: cookie head first, probably within your view, so you knew. 330 00:20:32,880 --> 00:20:35,000 Speaker 1: I went to the trouble of having this cookie made, 331 00:20:35,520 --> 00:20:40,119 Speaker 1: and I'm eating it right in front of you, head first. Yeah, 332 00:20:40,240 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: all right, all right, Lizzie, which just about brings us 333 00:20:43,560 --> 00:20:47,199 Speaker 1: to the ultimate question I want to answer, what's the 334 00:20:47,240 --> 00:20:52,840 Speaker 1: deal with those gingerbread houses? The deal is sixteenth century 335 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,719 Speaker 1: Germans and their love of the brother's Graham story of 336 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:58,760 Speaker 1: Hansel and Gretel. A lot of you are probably like, no, 337 00:20:58,840 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: dub um, Well, I wasn't. It's sort of a chicken 338 00:21:02,760 --> 00:21:05,880 Speaker 1: and egg type thing, though. Did the fairy tale lead 339 00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:09,560 Speaker 1: to the creation of gingerbread houses? Did gingerbread houses inspire 340 00:21:09,600 --> 00:21:12,600 Speaker 1: the fairy tale, which in turn popularized the gingerbread houses 341 00:21:13,920 --> 00:21:18,240 Speaker 1: mysteries of history? No one knows anyhow. These early gingerbread 342 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:21,520 Speaker 1: houses were way nicer than when I'm used to Not 343 00:21:21,640 --> 00:21:24,680 Speaker 1: only did they have that gold gilding, but they also 344 00:21:24,720 --> 00:21:33,040 Speaker 1: had gold foil wall papering. Fancy related gingerbread men were 345 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,440 Speaker 1: thought to be baked by witches, of course, and then 346 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:39,040 Speaker 1: used as sort of voodoo dolls to cause pain and 347 00:21:39,080 --> 00:21:43,080 Speaker 1: perhaps death. Dutch authorities made the baking and eating of 348 00:21:43,119 --> 00:21:46,640 Speaker 1: gingerbread men illegal in sixteen o seven in an attempt 349 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:51,679 Speaker 1: to quell witchcraft. That's some serious business. Well, you know, 350 00:21:52,080 --> 00:21:56,680 Speaker 1: you're you're you're doing what you can, and that's making 351 00:21:56,760 --> 00:22:03,119 Speaker 1: other shapes that gingerbread men. Shakespeare mentioned gingerbread in a 352 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,199 Speaker 1: play in quote, and I had but one pity in 353 00:22:07,240 --> 00:22:11,159 Speaker 1: the world. Thou shouldst have it to buy gingerbread. Oh 354 00:22:11,520 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: and John Barrett claimed it had the power to soothe 355 00:22:13,800 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: your stomach. In the sixteenth century, as ginger became more affordable, 356 00:22:17,800 --> 00:22:23,640 Speaker 1: gingerbread finally ventured out of the aristocratic bubble. And sometime 357 00:22:23,680 --> 00:22:27,640 Speaker 1: after this it even kind of came to mean the reverse. 358 00:22:27,720 --> 00:22:30,679 Speaker 1: Gingerbread went from denoting fancy and elegant to poor and 359 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:35,160 Speaker 1: maybe even a feminate. The harshest of insults. Um take 360 00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:38,760 Speaker 1: this quote from sixty seven's The Elder Brother. He has 361 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: an ass a piece of gingerbread guilt over to please 362 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:45,960 Speaker 1: foolish girls and puppets. Uh yeah, yeah, kind of kind 363 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 1: of an insult based on like, Oh, look at how 364 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:52,160 Speaker 1: like overlay fancy you are? Look at what a pretender? Yeah, 365 00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 1: gingerbread cookies arrived to the New World with the colonists 366 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,960 Speaker 1: in Virginia. Candidates might offer a cookie and an attempt 367 00:23:00,080 --> 00:23:03,840 Speaker 1: to win your vote, our old pal. Author of American 368 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:08,000 Speaker 1: cookery Amelia Simmons her that book came with three different 369 00:23:08,040 --> 00:23:13,080 Speaker 1: recipes for gingerbread, including this one for soft gingerbread. So 370 00:23:13,119 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 1: it was the second recipe. Rubbed three pounds of sugar, 371 00:23:15,760 --> 00:23:18,560 Speaker 1: two pounds of butter into four pounds of flour, add 372 00:23:18,720 --> 00:23:22,840 Speaker 1: twenty eggs, four ounces of ginger, four spoons rose water, 373 00:23:23,160 --> 00:23:27,239 Speaker 1: and then bake as the previous recipe number one. And 374 00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:31,000 Speaker 1: this soft kind was America's preferred kind. When Marquis de 375 00:23:31,119 --> 00:23:34,679 Speaker 1: Lafayette visited the home of George Washington's mother Mary, she 376 00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,520 Speaker 1: made soft gingerbread for him. Um she made them in 377 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: both the shapes of eagles and kinks. Americans took the 378 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:45,160 Speaker 1: idea of the gingerbread house and ran with it too. 379 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: It caught on on a more widespread level in America 380 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,400 Speaker 1: than it did in Britain. And speaking of running with it, 381 00:23:51,920 --> 00:23:55,639 Speaker 1: The Gingerbread Boy was first published in eighteen seventy five. 382 00:23:56,320 --> 00:23:59,000 Speaker 1: And as it turns out, there is a long tradition 383 00:23:59,040 --> 00:24:02,760 Speaker 1: in folklore of telling stories about runaway baked goods. What 384 00:24:03,640 --> 00:24:07,960 Speaker 1: there's okay? There's an in depth classification system for folklore, 385 00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:11,080 Speaker 1: and the gingerbread boy or gingerbread man, as we more 386 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,600 Speaker 1: modernly know it, it's part of the Arena Thompson Luther type, 387 00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: otherwise known as the runaway or fleeing pancake story, pancakes 388 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:24,960 Speaker 1: gonna run away. There are all kinds of stories throughout 389 00:24:25,000 --> 00:24:28,879 Speaker 1: Europe about cakes or cookies or pancakes running off and 390 00:24:28,920 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 1: then mocking various animals and people about not being able 391 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: to catch and eat them. The the gingerbread man is 392 00:24:34,680 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: just the American version. Well, it makes more sense because 393 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:44,199 Speaker 1: he has legs. How is it like rolling away? You know? 394 00:24:45,119 --> 00:24:48,240 Speaker 1: If I see a pancake, just like rolling I'm gonna 395 00:24:48,320 --> 00:24:52,960 Speaker 1: know it's the apocalypse is by the baked goods are here. 396 00:24:54,280 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: They're here, and they're mocking us. But but the first 397 00:24:57,640 --> 00:25:00,960 Speaker 1: printing of the gingerbread Boy, which probably followed a long 398 00:25:01,080 --> 00:25:04,080 Speaker 1: oral tradition, was in this children's literary journal called St. 399 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:07,919 Speaker 1: Nicholas Magazine, and the unnamed author wrote about it. The 400 00:25:07,960 --> 00:25:11,160 Speaker 1: gingerbread Boys not strictly original. A servant girl from Maine 401 00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:13,800 Speaker 1: told it to my children. It interested them so much 402 00:25:13,840 --> 00:25:15,880 Speaker 1: that I thought it was worth preserving. I asked where 403 00:25:15,920 --> 00:25:17,680 Speaker 1: she found it, and she said that an old lady 404 00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,760 Speaker 1: told it to her in her childhood. But this printing 405 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,359 Speaker 1: was more of a story than like the kind of 406 00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:26,840 Speaker 1: sing songy rhyme thing that we know today. I think 407 00:25:26,920 --> 00:25:30,399 Speaker 1: the first printed version that's close to our our modern 408 00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:35,320 Speaker 1: gingerbread man rhyme was in eight in the Ladies Home Journal, 409 00:25:35,560 --> 00:25:38,440 Speaker 1: written by one Ella M. White. You know the whole 410 00:25:38,440 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: like like run run fast as you can, you can't 411 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: catch me, a little gingerbread man sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah. 412 00:25:43,840 --> 00:25:47,080 Speaker 1: By the time parent w cousins published a child's book 413 00:25:47,080 --> 00:25:49,560 Speaker 1: of stories in nineteen eleven, the wording that we're more 414 00:25:49,560 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: familiar with today you can't catch me, I'm the gingerbread man, 415 00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:59,320 Speaker 1: was cemented, and that gingerbread recipe of Mary Ball Washington's 416 00:25:59,680 --> 00:26:02,560 Speaker 1: um would wind up getting passed down to her daughter Betty, 417 00:26:02,600 --> 00:26:04,400 Speaker 1: who served it at her own home, the ken More 418 00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,760 Speaker 1: Plantation in Virginia, and that recipe would eventually wind up 419 00:26:08,840 --> 00:26:13,200 Speaker 1: saving that historical site. Though long forgotten. It was found 420 00:26:13,200 --> 00:26:15,639 Speaker 1: in the homes Attic in ninety two by members of 421 00:26:15,640 --> 00:26:17,840 Speaker 1: the ken More Association and the Daughters of the American 422 00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: Revolution who needed like thirty grand to fund necessary repairs 423 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,040 Speaker 1: to the estate, so they typed up the recipe. They 424 00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:27,240 Speaker 1: sold copies of it to visitors for ten cents. Apiece 425 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:29,480 Speaker 1: eventually sold the rights to it to a company that 426 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:33,160 Speaker 1: created a like gingerbread mix for purchasing supermarkets, who also 427 00:26:33,200 --> 00:26:35,639 Speaker 1: provided it at a discount back to chapters of the 428 00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:38,840 Speaker 1: Daughters of the American Revolution, who sold it to benefit 429 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:48,359 Speaker 1: the ken More Gingerbread Cookies Saving historical saving history. Yeah, 430 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:51,960 Speaker 1: and I wanted to like sort of wrap up. We've 431 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:53,760 Speaker 1: got a little bit of gingerbread science, but I wanted 432 00:26:53,800 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: to sort of wrap up with um. There's this great 433 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:59,720 Speaker 1: interview that author and Burn, author of the book A 434 00:26:59,800 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: Mayor Cake, did with The Philly Voice, and she said 435 00:27:03,040 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: this about gingerbread. As years passed, the recipes like gingerbread 436 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:09,840 Speaker 1: that passed down through generations were always baked for holidays, 437 00:27:09,920 --> 00:27:13,200 Speaker 1: mostly Christmas. There's a wonderful phrase I found while researching 438 00:27:13,240 --> 00:27:16,280 Speaker 1: American cake and it goes something like this, The holidays 439 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:20,119 Speaker 1: preserve what every day loses. In short, if it weren't 440 00:27:20,119 --> 00:27:23,120 Speaker 1: for holiday baking, we wouldn't be hanging onto old recipes 441 00:27:23,160 --> 00:27:25,760 Speaker 1: like gingerbread. I like to think of gingerbread as the 442 00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,440 Speaker 1: quintessential American cake. It's a revolutionary cake, and that our 443 00:27:29,440 --> 00:27:33,200 Speaker 1: early American settlers adapted old European methods of baking gingerbread 444 00:27:33,200 --> 00:27:36,280 Speaker 1: to new ingredients and ovens. It came to represent this 445 00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:39,040 Speaker 1: new land where people of all backgrounds can find refuge. 446 00:27:39,560 --> 00:27:42,440 Speaker 1: Every gingerbread recipe baked in homes today can speak about 447 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:44,920 Speaker 1: the people who first made it. And then there's the 448 00:27:44,960 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: aroma in your kitchen of gingerbread being baked. It just 449 00:27:47,800 --> 00:27:50,280 Speaker 1: makes you smile. One whiff and you know the holidays 450 00:27:50,280 --> 00:27:55,239 Speaker 1: are here. Yeah, that's lovely. I haven't really thought about that, 451 00:27:55,440 --> 00:28:00,960 Speaker 1: about how there's so much tradition into the behind the 452 00:28:00,960 --> 00:28:03,960 Speaker 1: foods we eat around the holidays, And really, if that 453 00:28:04,000 --> 00:28:06,359 Speaker 1: tradition wasn't there, how many of those foods would we 454 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:09,640 Speaker 1: steal me eating. Yeah, like a lot of modern holiday 455 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:12,920 Speaker 1: foods can be traced really directly to like Victorian era, 456 00:28:13,119 --> 00:28:15,840 Speaker 1: which borrowed them from a lot of other other places. 457 00:28:15,880 --> 00:28:23,840 Speaker 1: And so yeah, it's fascinating. It is Meanwhile, in the 458 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:28,600 Speaker 1: winter of the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry had 459 00:28:28,640 --> 00:28:32,840 Speaker 1: an exhibit celebrating the engineering side of gingerbread construction, and 460 00:28:33,040 --> 00:28:36,359 Speaker 1: every year Discovery Cube, which is a couple of science 461 00:28:36,400 --> 00:28:40,400 Speaker 1: museums in California, hosts signs of gingerbread competitions to create 462 00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:45,480 Speaker 1: impressive gingerbread structures, and they also have a gingerbread car derby, 463 00:28:45,600 --> 00:28:48,880 Speaker 1: like a little gingerbread you build a little gingerbread cars, 464 00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:52,240 Speaker 1: And there's a derby. I am baking a gingerbread car 465 00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,400 Speaker 1: this year. Oh within that gingerbread cook he's going to 466 00:28:55,440 --> 00:29:00,240 Speaker 1: get away, so fast, get away? Oh no, all right, 467 00:29:00,320 --> 00:29:06,440 Speaker 1: well I'm pretty good, pretty confident. You're also pretty fast. 468 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:09,480 Speaker 1: You do a lot of running. An I think I've 469 00:29:09,480 --> 00:29:14,920 Speaker 1: been training for this my whole life. I just didn't know. Yah. Um. 470 00:29:14,960 --> 00:29:18,200 Speaker 1: And I do have a few a little bit of that, 471 00:29:18,280 --> 00:29:22,640 Speaker 1: like gingerbread construction science for you, some helpful hints for 472 00:29:22,680 --> 00:29:25,440 Speaker 1: you to remember the next time you're baking. Um. But 473 00:29:25,560 --> 00:29:27,560 Speaker 1: first we've got one more quick break for a word 474 00:29:27,600 --> 00:29:41,120 Speaker 1: from our sponsor, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes, 475 00:29:41,160 --> 00:29:44,560 Speaker 1: thank you. So if you're looking to construct your own 476 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:48,360 Speaker 1: gingerbread house or estate or palace or getaway car. The 477 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,760 Speaker 1: internet does have some helpful hints for you. I found 478 00:29:51,800 --> 00:29:54,120 Speaker 1: an article in Popular Science called how to build a 479 00:29:54,160 --> 00:29:59,160 Speaker 1: structurally sound gingerbread House that was particularly useful. Um, first, 480 00:29:59,360 --> 00:30:01,640 Speaker 1: you're going to need pick a gingerbread recipe that does 481 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,600 Speaker 1: not use leveting agents, no eggs or baking powder or 482 00:30:04,640 --> 00:30:07,080 Speaker 1: what have you. And you're gonna need a blueprint so 483 00:30:07,120 --> 00:30:09,960 Speaker 1: that you'll know how much you need to bake once 484 00:30:09,960 --> 00:30:13,000 Speaker 1: you've got your dough rolled out, because you don't want 485 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:15,160 Speaker 1: to use levating agents because that will make it puffy 486 00:30:15,200 --> 00:30:19,840 Speaker 1: and therefore less sturdy. Right, my cookie recipe would not work. No, No, 487 00:30:20,040 --> 00:30:22,560 Speaker 1: you're you're gonna need to change it up. Okay, okay, 488 00:30:22,600 --> 00:30:25,600 Speaker 1: I can do that, all right. And then once you 489 00:30:25,640 --> 00:30:27,120 Speaker 1: have your dough rolled out, you're gonna want to use 490 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,080 Speaker 1: a sharp knife to cut the shapes of the individual 491 00:30:29,160 --> 00:30:32,040 Speaker 1: pieces out of the dough prior to baking. But don't 492 00:30:32,120 --> 00:30:36,920 Speaker 1: remove the extra along the edges, because that way you'll 493 00:30:36,920 --> 00:30:42,520 Speaker 1: reduce spreading of the edges of your shapes. Yeah, yeah, 494 00:30:42,800 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: you don't. You don't want them to thin out, no 495 00:30:45,600 --> 00:30:47,960 Speaker 1: bad times. You can cut away the excess after baking. 496 00:30:48,960 --> 00:30:51,760 Speaker 1: Once everything's baked and cut out. You're gonna need durable 497 00:30:51,800 --> 00:30:56,400 Speaker 1: construction material, and that means proteins. Royal icing made with 498 00:30:56,440 --> 00:30:59,960 Speaker 1: egg whites, powdered sugar, and really minimal other liquids will 499 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 1: led up pretty well as well. Melted marshmallows, caramels, or gummies. 500 00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:06,520 Speaker 1: Melted white chocolate can also work well and has the 501 00:31:06,560 --> 00:31:09,240 Speaker 1: advantage of firming up more quickly than some of those 502 00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,240 Speaker 1: other things. Support structures inside the building will help distribute 503 00:31:13,280 --> 00:31:15,160 Speaker 1: the weight of the walls and the roof more evenly. 504 00:31:15,520 --> 00:31:18,840 Speaker 1: And finally, Popular Science recommends destroying your structure. I mean, 505 00:31:18,840 --> 00:31:22,040 Speaker 1: you know, when you're ready, uh, purposefully to see where 506 00:31:22,040 --> 00:31:24,200 Speaker 1: the weak points are and thus to build a better 507 00:31:24,240 --> 00:31:27,880 Speaker 1: plan for next year. This is beautiful. This sounds like 508 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: a great project two for children to undertake and to 509 00:31:32,480 --> 00:31:36,240 Speaker 1: learn from. Right and if you want even more specific 510 00:31:36,280 --> 00:31:39,080 Speaker 1: advice and understand math a little bit better than I do. 511 00:31:39,200 --> 00:31:41,200 Speaker 1: U c L, a science and food blog, made a 512 00:31:41,320 --> 00:31:46,120 Speaker 1: really thorough post about the physics involved called engineering the 513 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: perfect gingerbread house. That's fantastic. Check it out. I want 514 00:31:51,800 --> 00:31:56,400 Speaker 1: to make one right now, and there's nothing stopping you technically. 515 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:01,560 Speaker 1: I actually thought about making cookies for this um, but 516 00:32:01,840 --> 00:32:06,240 Speaker 1: we kind of randomly. I didn't think I was ever 517 00:32:06,280 --> 00:32:07,960 Speaker 1: going to get to do this in the middle of 518 00:32:08,000 --> 00:32:14,000 Speaker 1: summer UM. But I'm so excited. I would just want 519 00:32:14,000 --> 00:32:17,320 Speaker 1: to build things out of gingerbread. Yeah, and think about physics, 520 00:32:18,080 --> 00:32:21,520 Speaker 1: take pictures and like draw arrows. Oh yeah, this is 521 00:32:21,560 --> 00:32:26,680 Speaker 1: where the structure. Check out discovery cubes um signs of 522 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:30,680 Speaker 1: gingerbread competition that some of the photos from are really 523 00:32:30,720 --> 00:32:34,120 Speaker 1: gorgeous and incredibly impressive, like they have they have an 524 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,240 Speaker 1: adult and child categories, and like kids as young as 525 00:32:37,280 --> 00:32:39,920 Speaker 1: like five making these structures that I don't think I 526 00:32:39,920 --> 00:32:44,760 Speaker 1: could have built. So I'm like, well, I'm okay. We 527 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:47,640 Speaker 1: should have a competition in the office. Some people I 528 00:32:47,640 --> 00:32:50,400 Speaker 1: think would be really good. Oh man, some people would 529 00:32:50,400 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: be embarrassingly good. Heck, they're going to put me to shame, Annie. 530 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,960 Speaker 1: But we get to eat it after we do. That's true. 531 00:32:58,360 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: That's all that matters in the end, isn't it. It 532 00:33:03,560 --> 00:33:08,040 Speaker 1: is okay. Well, now now that I'm all in the 533 00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:13,560 Speaker 1: mood for gingerbread and building gingerbread houses, it's time for 534 00:33:14,560 --> 00:33:24,560 Speaker 1: listener male male mail. I was like, bells, Oh yeah, 535 00:33:24,800 --> 00:33:29,720 Speaker 1: we try, we do, all right, MICHAELA. Wrote on Facebook, 536 00:33:30,000 --> 00:33:32,719 Speaker 1: I just listened to your episode about peanut butter. Annie. 537 00:33:32,800 --> 00:33:34,920 Speaker 1: I love your passion for the creamy, gooey perfection we 538 00:33:34,960 --> 00:33:37,440 Speaker 1: call peanut butter. Thank you. I love it too. I 539 00:33:37,520 --> 00:33:40,600 Speaker 1: enjoy a plain peanut butter sandwich myself at times, no jelly. 540 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:43,240 Speaker 1: Usually it's too sweet for me. But how I usually 541 00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,480 Speaker 1: eat it is by the spoonful. I grew up eating 542 00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:49,440 Speaker 1: it this way as a home cure for hiccups. My 543 00:33:49,560 --> 00:33:52,040 Speaker 1: grandma always told me when I got a bad case 544 00:33:52,120 --> 00:33:54,200 Speaker 1: of the hiccups, to eat a spoonful of peanut butter 545 00:33:54,520 --> 00:33:57,640 Speaker 1: and they will be whisked away. It has never failed me. 546 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: By the time I finished the spoon my hi ups 547 00:34:00,280 --> 00:34:02,800 Speaker 1: are a thing of the past. I wanted to report 548 00:34:02,800 --> 00:34:05,720 Speaker 1: in grade school about hiccups. It was there that I 549 00:34:05,800 --> 00:34:07,600 Speaker 1: learned the cause of hiccups being a result of our 550 00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:10,840 Speaker 1: diaphragms getting out of sync with our breathing. By eating 551 00:34:10,840 --> 00:34:13,279 Speaker 1: the spoonful of peanut butter, you allow your breathing to 552 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,520 Speaker 1: become slowed enough for your diaphragm to find its normal 553 00:34:16,600 --> 00:34:21,040 Speaker 1: rhythm once more. I totally forgot about that, but I 554 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:23,080 Speaker 1: have a I have one. It is a very annoying 555 00:34:23,120 --> 00:34:28,200 Speaker 1: habit of shouting peanut butter at someone who have hiccups, 556 00:34:28,239 --> 00:34:32,080 Speaker 1: because it's both the surprise element and sort of peanut 557 00:34:32,080 --> 00:34:36,400 Speaker 1: butter a useful suggestion. It's never worked, and yet I 558 00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:41,480 Speaker 1: continue to do it well perseverance. Yeah yeah, maybe one 559 00:34:41,560 --> 00:34:44,439 Speaker 1: day it sounds like eating peanut butter is far more 560 00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:49,480 Speaker 1: successful way to get rid of the hiccups. Alan wrote 561 00:34:49,800 --> 00:34:53,000 Speaker 1: your mention of the old style can opener essentially a spike, 562 00:34:53,120 --> 00:34:55,560 Speaker 1: brought back memories at the cottage, of which he had 563 00:34:55,640 --> 00:34:58,720 Speaker 1: mentioned earlier in the email about being a place anyway. 564 00:34:58,760 --> 00:35:00,719 Speaker 1: In those days it tended to be the pository of 565 00:35:00,760 --> 00:35:03,000 Speaker 1: older stuff, and in the drawer was one of the 566 00:35:03,040 --> 00:35:05,359 Speaker 1: type you mentioned. It was a challenge to use as 567 00:35:05,360 --> 00:35:07,640 Speaker 1: a small boy, but it did work. I do recall 568 00:35:07,680 --> 00:35:09,839 Speaker 1: the opening being quite jagged, and it was a good 569 00:35:09,880 --> 00:35:11,719 Speaker 1: way to poke yourself as you tried to make that 570 00:35:11,800 --> 00:35:15,200 Speaker 1: first penetration into the canned lid. The sharp point was 571 00:35:15,320 --> 00:35:18,680 Speaker 1: not forgiving. I'm surprised that you did not mention the 572 00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,800 Speaker 1: Army's P thirty eight can opener, which was a folding 573 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:24,880 Speaker 1: can opener introduced in World War Two. In the ration packs, 574 00:35:25,239 --> 00:35:27,440 Speaker 1: I still saw them in Canadian Russian packs into the 575 00:35:27,520 --> 00:35:32,719 Speaker 1: nineteen seventies, before we converted two meals in pouches. These 576 00:35:32,719 --> 00:35:35,240 Speaker 1: were effective can openers and I always had several around 577 00:35:35,239 --> 00:35:37,799 Speaker 1: as we got a new one with each meal's ration pack. 578 00:35:38,160 --> 00:35:39,960 Speaker 1: I used them at home for years as they were 579 00:35:40,000 --> 00:35:42,080 Speaker 1: so useful and took up a little room in the 580 00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,799 Speaker 1: kitchen drawers. That is until one day I got a 581 00:35:45,800 --> 00:35:47,960 Speaker 1: frantic phone call at work from one of my daughters 582 00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:50,440 Speaker 1: as her sister was frantically trying to open a can 583 00:35:50,480 --> 00:35:52,759 Speaker 1: of food. They were about twelve and were left home 584 00:35:52,800 --> 00:35:54,600 Speaker 1: for an hour between my wife going to work and 585 00:35:54,600 --> 00:35:58,080 Speaker 1: me getting home. One daughter suddenly decided she was hungry, 586 00:35:58,320 --> 00:36:01,120 Speaker 1: wanted something in a can, and couldn't open it with 587 00:36:01,160 --> 00:36:03,840 Speaker 1: the P thirty eight. She was resorting to smashing the 588 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,239 Speaker 1: can on the kitchen floor, at which point my other 589 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:09,040 Speaker 1: daughter called me. Needless to say, I dropped what I 590 00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:11,759 Speaker 1: was doing and rushed home. After that, I went out 591 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 1: and bought a conventional can opener to avoid any future crises. 592 00:36:17,920 --> 00:36:23,759 Speaker 1: We're adult women, and we can relate to that. Our 593 00:36:23,800 --> 00:36:28,480 Speaker 1: struggle lives forever online. Yeah, there were a number of 594 00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:31,319 Speaker 1: moments in that video that we're not Oshan compliant at all. 595 00:36:32,960 --> 00:36:35,160 Speaker 1: Oh no, I hope they don't come knocking on our 596 00:36:35,200 --> 00:36:38,239 Speaker 1: career door. Yeah, we're like racking up a list of 597 00:36:38,280 --> 00:36:40,239 Speaker 1: people that are gonna come and knock in one day. 598 00:36:42,400 --> 00:36:44,480 Speaker 1: But we did get the can open eventually with a 599 00:36:44,520 --> 00:36:49,719 Speaker 1: conventional we did. Yeah, there's much shame about it. It's 600 00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:53,040 Speaker 1: it's okay. Hey, hey we prevailed. Did We struggled and 601 00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:56,720 Speaker 1: we prevailed and it is hilarious and it's really pretty funny. 602 00:36:57,160 --> 00:36:59,879 Speaker 1: So there's that. There's that we can laugh at oursel 603 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:04,560 Speaker 1: elves and that's a good thing. Thanks to both of 604 00:37:04,600 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: them for writing in. If you would like to write 605 00:37:07,000 --> 00:37:08,480 Speaker 1: to us, we would love to hear from you. Our 606 00:37:08,520 --> 00:37:10,920 Speaker 1: email is food Stuff at how stuff works dot com, 607 00:37:11,040 --> 00:37:13,160 Speaker 1: and we're also on social media. You can find us 608 00:37:13,200 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 1: on Facebook and Twitter at food Stuff hs W and 609 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:20,799 Speaker 1: on Instagram at food Stuff. Thanks as always to our 610 00:37:20,800 --> 00:37:24,480 Speaker 1: super producer Dylan Fagan. Thank you to you for listening, 611 00:37:24,719 --> 00:37:26,399 Speaker 1: and we hope that lots more good things are coming 612 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:43,160 Speaker 1: your way.