Gingerbread spices up many traditions around the world

When it comes to gingerbread, it's hard to be neutral. We either love it or leave it alone.

Gingerbread is a cinch to make and well worth a little investment in time and effort. The warm spice perfumes the house and it's great served warm or cool, plain or iced. Gingerbread keeps several days, improving with age (that is, in more moderate households -- here it's devoured on the spot).

Legend credits gingerbread to the ancient Chinese, who packed ginger-spiked honey cakes as rations for the soldiers of Genghis Khan. Crusaders encountered these cakes in the Middle East and brought spices and inspiration to bakers throughout Europe. In the late 1500s, German bakers created the first gingerbread art for royal occasions. Then, the French bakers of Rheims created rich, nut- and citron-studded pain d'epice. In Russia, the birth of Peter the Great inspired a gingerbread Kremlin that is said to have weighed 200 pounds.

Over time, gingerbread became the currency of religion and romance. Through the late 1800s, friends and lovers exchanged edible Christmas and Easter cards with colorful sugar angels and doves.

The German lebkuchen heart, baked with endearing inscriptions, remains a tradition in Yugoslavia today. As our country was founded, early politicians passed out ginger cookies to influence voters. By 1796, when Amelia Simmons published her "American Cookery," gingerbread was baked in two basic ways: as crisp gingerbread (cookies) and as soft gingerbread (moist and cake-like, baked in a pan).

George Washington's mother, Mary Ball Washington, served a spicy gingerbread to Marquis de Lafayette when he visited the president in 1784. No doubt early American cooks would be delighted with the many forms of ginger available today. Find it fresh, dried, candied and as paste in markets nationwide.

Flavor, by definition

Ginger is the underground stem of a tropical plant, originating in Asia, often called ginger root, though it's actually a rhizome. When harvested, fresh ginger resembles a hand with fingers. Most of our ginger comes from Hawaii, though Jamaican ginger is considered the finest (it's especially mild and sweet, and difficult to find).

Dried ginger is far more pungent and fiery than the fresh version. When used in baked goods, the dried ginger flavor mellows and the fresh ginger flavor blossoms. Years ago, apothecaries dispensed dried ginger for a variety of ailments; it continues to play a major role in alternative remedies today.

Tips for the cook

Remember that fresh and dried ginger are not interchangeable. The dried is the staple of these cakes and cookies, the fresh adds a distinctly spicy lemon note.

Fresh ginger: The fresher the ginger, the milder and less fibrous it will be. Look for hard, unwrinkled, plump and heavy rhizomes or bulbs. They will keep in the vegetable crisper of your refrigerator for seven to 10 days. You can find ginger paste in the Asian section of markets and in Asian stores, but be sure it doesn't contain other ingredients (such as soy or curry seasonings) before using in these baking recipes. To grate fresh ginger, peel off the tough brown skin and grate on the finest gauge of the grater. You also can grate a large batch in a food processor and keep it frozen in an airtight container or plastic bag.

Dried ginger: Once dried, ginger has a hotter, more penetrating flavor than fresh. Poor quality ginger is sharp and biting. Stored in an airtight container, good-quality dried ginger will keep for about two years. Again, Jamaican ginger is considered the best for its delicate aroma, pale color and fine-textured powder.

Beth Dooley is a Minneapolis author.