Category
Seo nydþearf feala læreð (Necessity teaches many things)
Entrant
Lihua Li
Entry
Lebkuchengewürz
Why I chose this entry
For the Ildhafn Winter Event/Baronial Anniversary, I had decided I wished to make
Lebkuchen for our contribution to Saturday’s lunch. Unfortunately, most recipes for
Lebkuchen simply state ‘Lebkuchengewürz’ in the ingredients. I used a recipe for
Lebkuchengewürz I found on a blog entitled ‘Ancestors in Aprons’ and cross referenced this
recipe with the ingredients listed on commercially available Lebkuchengewüz online. The
recipe created much more spice than I needed, however this allowed me to store the spice
mix to use in other cooking.
The History of the spice mix
The earliest mention I could find of Lebkuchen was from Ulm (on the Danube River) in The earliest mention I could find of Lebkuchen was from Ulm (on the Danube River) in 1296. This was made possible by the Old Salt Road which connected Germany to the Far East and provided access to spices such as cinnamon, cloves and anise. These spices were then kneaded into dough which was sweetened with honey that had been consumed since “Roman times”. In addition to the spices being warming, they are also dense in calories which provided sustenance through long winter months when trade with other towns was cut off by snowfall.
Recipe
5 Tablespoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground star anise
¼ teaspoon ground coriander seeds
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon ground cloves
¼ teaspoon ground allspice
½ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon ground white pepper (substitution for mace)
I had allspice, nutmeg, white pepper ginger and cinnamon already ground, however did grind
the cloves, cardamom, coriander seeds and star anise using a mortar and pestle. In order to
ensure the spice mix was well combined, I ground these spices individually and then mixed
them in a spice container with a fork.
Thoughts
A lot of this spice mix had me questioning my sanity for putting various ingredients into it,
knowing I planned to use the resulting spice mix in a sweet recipe. Coriander seeds and
mace/white pepper as an example are things I would never previously have considered in the
spice mix.
I was also taken by how many different ingredients made up the spice mix. I have previously
worked with mixed spice (7 spices) and Chinese 5 spice (5 spices), but Lebkuchengewürz
contains 9 spices (minimum. There are some other recipes which also include pimento).
The resultant spice mix smells like gingerbread with further warming notes that made my
nose itch (I’m assuming it’s the white pepper). In the Lebkuchen, the spice mix took the
cookies to a whole different level from ordinary gingerbread.
Sources
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/best-gingerbread-recipe
https://www.zauberdergewuerze.de/magazin/gewuerzlexikon/was-ist-lebkuchengewuerz
https://ancestorsinaprons.com/2015/11/lebkuchengewuerz-german-spice-mix/
