The first time I had a soft chocolate glazed cookie called Lebkuchen was Switzerland. That cookie along with roasted chestnuts at an open air/outdoor Christmas market is pure nostalgia.
Lebkuchen are made with only 10% flour, the rest has to be ground nuts, spices, HONEY, and some citrus grinds. Depending on quality they include Marzipan. My favorite come on a white wafer called Oblaten. I've just had two and want to jodel.
Apparently, Monks had invented them in the 13th century. I always suspected monks hid their epicurianism beneath a fassade of asceticism.
I'm still trying to figure out how to live in a world that my father is no longer inhabiting and he used to always get them for me.
As I got older I no longer liked them and found they were too sweet. Whether the ingredients were changed or I simply outgrew them, I don't know. They became available in local stores and I suspect that they weren't imports but a sweetened version of the original.
When he got older, my father who loved to bring gifts would ask me if I wanted some. I declined, he still brought them. He was disappointed. I never regifted what he gave me and I simply didn't want him to waste money on something I no longer enjoyed.
Advancing age made him miss the loss of his youth and my childhood. Losing him made me miss the same. I recently bought groceries to avoid the Christmas shopping mayhem and saw them on a display. I grabbed a package. Instead of six to a package, there are now five rattling around, but I get to connect to a pleasant memory that I can maintain in the future.
I am also still trying to figure out why my father hasn't called yet, on a day with subzero temps. He would never not call.
ReplyDeleteApparently, a lebkuchen version existed in ancient Egypt.
Since I spent my childhood and teenage years in a city dominated by a medieval castle, the birthplace of one of the greatest Renaissance artists, but also home of the one of the oldest lebkuchen traditions (never forgetting the more recent horrific history), here two links for you that may help to restore your liking of lebkuchen.
https://www.lebkuchen-schmidt.com/en/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebkuchen
Happy xmas. Hope you are well - I am not.