Christmas food special: Gingerbread, man of the hour

Once upon a time two children named Hansel and Gretel who were left in the woods by their father and stepmotherstumbled upon a house made of gingerbread and cakesrdquoEvery time we heard this story as a child we pictured those edible caramelbrown walls the windows made of candy and roof made of cookies As adults too this fantasy never really leaves us with the tradition of gingerbread houses made especially during ChristmasA gingerbread below and cookie house at Ramada Powai Hotel and Convention Centre PicSameer MarkandeWhile hotels across the city including Sofitel at Bandra Kurla Complex and Ramada Powai Hotel and ConventionCentre have created their very own versions of the edible houses bakers and chocolatiers across the city have created their own gingerbread versions along with cookies and sweets for the festive seasonLegend of gingerbreadAny confection made with honey spices and preserved ginger is called gingerbread There are various versions around the world such as French Spice Bread which is drier and made of honey or treacle and German Pfefferkuchen which means pepper cake In England they are made in the form of cakes cookies and biscuits especially in the shape of the gingerbread man whose origin leads to two interesting stories One is the fairytale in which a gingerbreadman comes alive and outruns an elderly couple and farm animals Eventually a fox eats him up In the more believable tale it is said Queen Elizabeth I served gingerbread to foreign dignitariesIn Netherlands and Belgium the soft and crumbly gingerbread called Peperkoek is a breakfast delicacy while in theNordic countries the gingerbread is usually a thin brittle cookie In Switzerland the gingerbread cake commonly called biber is stuffed with marzipan fillingChef and founder of La Folie at Kala Ghoda Sanjana Patel says ldquoAccording to sugarcraft scholar Steven Stellingwerf gingerbread was introduced to Western Europe by 11thcentury crusaders returning from the eastern Mediterranean The term is now broadly used to describe any type of sweet treat that combines ginger with honey treacle or molasses which is uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar Christmas goodies generallycontain cinnamon cardamom star anise nutmeg white pepper pepper cloves and ginger as they help keep thehuman body warmrdquo This year Patelrsquos menu includes German Stollen bread with cranberries raisins and rum gingerbread cookies and caramel shotsChristmas food is all about earthy flavours that warm you up says owner of Juhubased Onesta confectionary NehaChoudhury whose menu offers Ginger cookies White Chocolate Raspberry brownies that resemble the festive colours and Milk Chocolate and Orange Spiced Mousse ldquoI have also come up with Cinnamon and Caramel Popcorn to add a contemporarytwist to Christmas sweets Over the world Christmas cooking involves using ingredients that are available at that time of the year mdash that is why usually dried fruits raisins candied fruits and mulled wine are usedrdquosays ChoudhuryIndian versionGurgaonbased Deeba Rajpal has created her own lsquoIndianisedrsquo version of the gingerbread ldquoI make it with whole wheat and add jaggery instead of sugar My first memory of the gingerbread man is the board game candyland which had pastelcoloured gingermenrdquo says the home baker who has her own blog called Passionate About BakingReshma Mane who runs a catering business called Every Aroma Caterers keeps in mind the Indian palate while bakingthe goodies ldquoGinger has a very strong taste Since most Indians have a sweet tooth I have made some innovations to the gingerbread cookies and added lemon zest chocolate and honey With the nip in the air these are perfect with a cup of chairdquo