And I had but one penny in the world, thou should'st have it to buy gingerbread.

-- William Shakespeare, "Love's Labor's Lost"

History of gingerbread -- Long Story ShortVolumes exist on the origins of gingerbread. For these purposes, suffice it to say an early form of gingerbread can be traced to the ancient Greeks and Egyptians who used it for ceremonial purposes. Gingerbread made an appearance in Europe when 11th-century crusaders brought the spice back from the Middle East for the rich folks' cooks to experiment with.

As ginger and other spices became more affordable to the masses, gingerbread caught on. An early European recipe consisted of ground almonds, stale breadcrumbs, rosewater, sugar and, naturally, ginger.

The resultant paste was pressed into wooden molds. These carved works of art served as a sort of story board that told the news of the day, bearing the likeness of new kings, emperors and queens, or religious symbols. The finished cookie might be decorated with edible gold paint (for those who could afford it) or flat white icing to bring out the details in relief.

In the 16th century, the English replaced the breadcrumbs with flour, and added eggs and sweeteners, resulting in a lighter product. The first gingerbread man is credited to Queen Elizabeth I, who knocked the socks off visiting dignitaries by presenting them with one baked in their own likeness. Gingerbread tied with ribbon was popular at fairs and, when exchanged, became a token of love. On a more practical note, before refrigeration was a twinkle in someone's eye, aromatic crumbled gingerbread was added to recipes to mask the odor of decaying meat.

So What Is Gingerbread Like Today?Gingerbread is a baked sweet containing ginger and sometimes cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and anise, and sweetened with any combination of brown sugar, molasses, light or dark corn syrup, or honey.

Gingerbread can take the shape of thin, crisp cookies like snaps, Polish pierniczki, Czech pernik, Scandinavian pepparkakor and Dutch speculaas cut into hearts or other fanciful shapes. The Germans like a softer, puffier version known as lebkuchen.

Gingerbread also can be a dark, spicy cake like Polish piernik, or an American version served, sometimes, with lemon glaze, or the lighter French pain d'epices.

The third form gingerbread takes today is in a house-shaped confection made with a variation of gingerbread cookie dough.