A gingerbread man is a biscuit or cookie made from gingerbread, usually in the shape of a stylized human being. However, other shapes, especially seasonal themes (Christmas, Halloween, Easter, etc.), and characters are also common.
History
A gingerbread man, with icing decorationFreshly baked gingerbread people with a variety of decorations
Gingerbread dates from the 15th century and figurative biscuit-making was practised in the 16th century.[1] The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits was at the court of Elizabeth I of England. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests, who brought the human shape of the gingerbread cookies.[2][3]
Most gingerbread men share a roughly humanoid shape, with stubby feet and no fingers. Many gingerbread people have a face, though whether the features are indentations within the face itself or other candies stuck on with icing or chocolate varies from recipe to recipe. Other decorations are common; hair, shirt cuffs, and shoes are sometimes applied, but by far the most popular decoration is shirt buttons, which are traditionally represented by gum drops, icing, or raisins.[citation needed]
In world records
According to the Guinness Book of Records, the world's largest gingerbread man was made by the staff of the IKEA Furuset store in Oslo, Norway, on 9 November 2009. The gingerbread man weighed 1435.2 pounds (651 kg).[4][5]
In fiction and popular culture
"The Gingerbread Man" is a fairy tale about a gingerbread man who comes to life, outruns an elderly couple and various animals, and is devoured by a fox in the end.
Gingy is a talking gingerbread man character in the Shrek series of animated movies. He is derived from the fairy tale character.
The Jasper Fforde comic detective novel The Fourth Bear features a more-than-human-sized gingerbread man who is a psychopathic serial killer who likes to pull off his victims' limbs. The difficulties in catching him are a reference to the fairy tale.
In the film The Brothers Grimm, a nightmarish twist on the Gingerbread Man appears. A young child is splashed with mud, which steals the child's eyes, nose, and mouth. It then forms a small mud body with the child's stolen features for a face. The creature grabs the child and absorbs her into itself. It runs off yelling, "You can't catch me; I'm the Gingerbread Man!"
The first game in the Cookie Run series, Ovenbreak, is a runner game that puts players in the role of GingerBrave, a gingerbread man running to escape from the Witch's Oven. Subsequent games would introduce numerous other "Cookies", iterations of gingerbread men based on different combinations of ingredients and character archetypes.
References
^Campbell Franklin, Linda (1998). 300 Years of Kitchen Collectibles (4th ed.). New York: Books Americana. p. 183.
^Lach, Donald F. (2010). Asia in the Making of Europe, Volume II: A Century of Wonder. Book 3: The Scholarly Disciplines. University of Chicago Press. p. 442.
