There are some traditions that stay alive for centuries, and
the tradition of red gingerbread hearts is one of them.
Of course, their place
in people’s lives has changed over the centuries, but they are still seen at
country fairs and festivals.
These big gingerbread hearts used to be the nicest and
sweetest gift a young man could buy for his love.
I heard someone telling about a tradition of giving a nice
big gingerbread heart at the beginning of the relationship. The young man took
the gingerbread heart to the young girl’s house and gave the heart to the girl
he liked. If the family displayed the heart, it meant he is welcome to start a
relationship with the girl. If they put the heart away, it meant that he is not
welcome.
The traditional decoration has flowers grouped in threes,
positioned like eyes and mouth to give the heart personality. These hearts
often have a mirror in the center that represent true feeling and clean spirit.
This also came handy those days when hand-held mirrors were not common.
Recipients could use these hearts to look at themselves.
Children often got smaller hearts and other figures, like
dolls, or a “huszar” (a Hungarian soldier fighting on a horse, using a sword).
At that time the selection of sweets and candies was very limited, so
gingerbread was a real treat.
Today they are valued for both tradition and nostalgia, as
they remind people of their childhood.
You can order your own from my webshop. Or make some, using my gingerbread recipe.
Edit July 2016:
Now a video is also available:
Now a video is also available:
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Lovely story. Lovely tradition. Lovely cookies.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work. Thanks for the info. Very interesting. :)
ReplyDeletewww.janisbakes.com