When we think of gingerbread thoughts go to a yummy cake or even gingerbread men but it wasn't always like that. Ginger was originally used as a preservative for bread. During the 16th, 17th and 18th century gingerbread recipes were based on either a dense dough made from breadcrumbs or a ground almond paste mixed with spices etc rather than the use of flour. Gingerbreads could be gilded or red, the red colour coming from the red sandelwood tree. In fact the red colour was so popular in the 16th century that a guild of beaters actually existed to grind the red sandelwood to powder. Recipes from the 16th century for the dough include breadcrumbs, liquorice/aniseed ginger, forming a stiff
It's worth taking a closer look at some pieces of antique treen as there is often small characteristics which make these antique treen items just that little bit more interesting. I have picked out a few items from my current stock to discuss, each one has something about it that makes it special. Firstly image one is of two antique treen spoons look closely at them though there's more to them than first meets the eye, the left hand one is a lovely antique treen fruitwood spoon, probably from Wales, note how the spoon bowl is lying at nearly a right angle to the spoon bowl handle very uncommon, some referances describe it as an invalids spoon, I think its a great design! The colour and pati
