One of the oldest gingerbread recipes dates back to 2400 BC in Greece, but it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that a recipe appeared resembling our modern version. In the 15th century, it was called 'gyngerbrede' and thought to be a cure for coughs and a preventative of diseases.
Many believed that gingerbread had magical properties in general and they began to eat gingerbread at Christmas time and on other special occasions. It is said that Queen Elizabeth 1st invented the concept of gingerbread men – and would gift courtiers gingerbread figures decorated to resemble them. Soon, maidens began gobbling gingerbread 'husbands' to attract a mate, gingerbread dogs for fidelity, pigs for luck, a mythical lion-headed man for virility, and gingerbread hearts to find true love.
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