Among the many varieties of spicy bread, the gingerbread it is certainly one of the most famous in the world. Few know, however, that what can be considered his ancestor, or the famous French spice pan said Bread with Spices, originally he did not understand ginger among its ingredients. Let's go then to discover the origin and the history of this ancient recipe, steeped in history and flavors.

The delicious French spice pan pain d'épices

The pain d'épices is a fragrant and soft spiced bread, born in France and disseminated in various northern European countries. Although suitable for every season, it is generally considered a winter and Christmas sweet. His recipe, which varies according to the area, is very simple to prepare and generally involves the use of rye and wheat flour and honey, milk, eggs, yeast and sugar, to which are added various spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg, star anise, coriander, pepper and ginger; some variants also include cloves, fennel seeds, cardamom or orange peel.

Before the gingerbread … there was a bread without ginger

A distant ancestor of gingerbread and gingerbread, it is precisely the French pain d'épices, among the most famous and beloved European spiced breads in Europe. Although in France, as we have seen, there are many regional variations, the most famous is that Dijon, in Burgundy. The exact name of this traditional dessert is pain d'épice, without the final "s" of the plural, and although in English it is translated with the term gingerbreadin fact not only does not contain ginger, but his recipe involves the use of a single spice, aniseed. This is confirmed by Christine Snoeckx, head of the museum space at the Gingerbread Factory Mulot & Petitjean, who in an interview said that the authentic pain d'épices does not contain ginger, they are not in Dijon, but also in many other parts of France.

The Burgundy spice pan recipe probably dates back to the 1300s when the Countess Margaret III of Flanders (present-day Belgium) after having married the Duke of Burgundy Philip of Rouvres, invented the dough using ingredients from Belgium, namely wheat flour and white honey. The first written mention of local spice bread preparation in Dijon by the local pastry chefs dates back to 1595, at the time of Henry IV, while that of production to 1711.

In short, a truly ancient tradition for a bread that is reminiscent of gingerbread … but that gingerbread is not.

Photos: Le pain d'épices de Dijon burgundy gingerbread france_Flickr_Nate Gray (cphotoj) .jpg
Photo: Gingerbread ginger bread_SKopp_Commons Wikipedia.jpg