Type | Cookie |
---|---|
Place of origin | United States |
Main ingredients | Spices, molasses |
Moravian spice cookies are a traditional kind of cookie that originated in the Colonial American communities of the Moravian Church. The blend of spices and molasses, rolled paper thin, has a reputation as the "World's Thinnest Cookie". [1] They are related to German Lebkuchen; original recipes can be traced back to the 17th century. [2]
The cookie is especially popular around, and usually associated with, Christmas in communities with a strong Moravian background such as Winston-Salem, North Carolina and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, which still maintain the two largest Moravian communities in the United States. [3] Although there are a few bakeries that still roll and cut the cookies by hand, some now use a mechanized process for making the cookies in order to meet the demand. While this does not affect the taste, the machine-made cookies have been criticized for not being as thin as their handmade counterparts. [4]
While the spice recipe is the most traditional and well-known of the Moravian cookies, other versions have appeared over the years, including sugar, lemon, black walnut, and chocolate varieties. [5]
Christiansfeld, with a population of 2,979, is a town in Kolding Municipality in Southern Jutland in Region of Southern Denmark. The town was founded in 1773 by the Moravian Church and named after the Danish king Christian VII. Since July 2015 it has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site, highlighting its status as the best-preserved example of the town-planning and architecture of the Moravian Church.
Newtons are a Nabisco-trademarked version of a cookie filled with sweet fruit paste. "Fig Newtons" are the most popular variety. They are produced by an extrusion process. Their distinctive shape is a characteristic that has been adopted by competitors, including generic fig bars sold in many markets.
A Moon Pie is an American snack, popular across much of the United States, which consists of two round Graham crackers, with marshmallow filling in the center, dipped in a flavored coating. The snack is often associated with the cuisine of the American South, where they are traditionally accompanied by an RC Cola. Today, MoonPies are made by Chattanooga Bakery, Inc., in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Lebkuchen, Honigkuchen or Pfefferkuchen are honey-sweetened German cakes, moulded cookies or bar cookies that have become part of Germany's Christmas traditions. They are similar to gingerbread.
Lavash is a thin flatbread usually leavened, traditionally baked in a tandoor or on a sajj, and common to the cuisines of South Caucasus, West Asia, and the areas surrounding the Caspian Sea. Lavash is one of the most widespread types of bread in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Iran and Turkey. The traditional recipe can be adapted to the modern kitchen by using a griddle or wok instead of the tonir.
Gingerbread refers to a broad category of baked goods, typically flavored with ginger, cloves, nutmeg, and cinnamon and sweetened with honey, sugar, or molasses. Gingerbread foods vary, ranging from a moist loaf cake to forms nearly as crisp as a ginger snap.
Dutch cuisine is formed from the cooking traditions and practices of the Netherlands. The country's cuisine is shaped by its location on the fertile Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta at the North Sea, giving rise to fishing, farming, and overseas trade. Due to the availability of water and flat grassland, the Dutch diet contains many dairy products such as butter and cheese. The court of the Burgundian Netherlands enriched the cuisine of the elite in the Low Countries in the 15th and 16th century, so did in the 17th and 18th century colonial trade, when the Dutch ruled the spice trade, played a pivotal role in the global spread of coffee, and started the modern era of chocolate, by developing the Dutch process chocolate.
Pennsylvania Dutch cuisine is the typical and traditional fare of the Pennsylvania Dutch.
Gracehill is a village in County Antrim, Northern Ireland. It lies about 3 km from Ballymena and is in the townland of Ballykennedy. It is part of the Borough of Mid & East Antrim.
“Tsire” commonly known as suya is a traditional smoked spiced meat skewer which originates from Nigeria, and is a popular food item across West Africa. Suya is a large part of Hausa culture and food and is traditionally prepared and made by Hausa men, thus called 'Mai tsire'. While suya is the more widely recognized name in many areas of Nigeria, the Hausa community still predominantly uses the original name, tsire. Suya is generally made with skewered beef, ram, or chicken. Organ meats such as kidney, liver and tripe are also used. The thinly sliced meat is marinated in various spices, which include traditional Hausa dehydrated peanut cookie called 'kwulikwuli', salt, vegetable oil and other spices and flavorings, and then barbecued. There are many variation of Suya in traditional Hausa cooking, but the most popular being suya. Suya is traditionally served with an extra helpings of mixed dried pepper, traditional hausa spices, and sliced onions. It is also traditionally served in Hausa culture with a side serving of Hausa Masa. Halal meat preparation methods are normally used, especially in the northern parts of Nigeria where it originates as is customary with traditional Hausa foods, where the suspicion of nonconformity to Muslim dietary prohibitions in Suya preparation has been known to cause riots. A dried version of Suya is called Kilishi. It can be eaten with Masa, Kosai, Garri or Ogi.
Christmas cookies or Christmas biscuits are traditionally sugar cookies or biscuits cut into various shapes related to Christmas.
A gingersnap, ginger snap, ginger nut, or ginger biscuit is a biscuit flavoured with ginger. Ginger snaps are flavoured with powdered ginger and a variety of other spices, most commonly cinnamon, molasses and clove. There are many recipes. The brittle ginger nut style is a commercial version of the traditional fairings once made for market fairs now represented only by the Cornish fairing.
Cookie decorating dates back to at least the 14th century when in Switzerland, springerle cookie molds were carved from wood and used to impress Biblical designs into cookies.
Jumbles are simple butter cookies made with a basic recipe of flour, sugar, eggs, and butter. They can be flavored with vanilla, anise, caraway seed, or other flavoring like almond. They were formerly often made in the form of rings or rolls.
Lekach is a honey-sweetened cake made by Jews, especially for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah. Known in Hebrew as ugat dvash, the word lekach is Yiddish. Lekach is one of the symbolically significant foods traditionally eaten by Ashkenazi Jews at Rosh Hashanah in hopes of ensuring a sweet New Year.
Archway Cookies is an American cookie manufacturer, founded in 1936 in Battle Creek, Michigan. Since December 2008, it has been a subsidiary of Lance Inc., a snack food company, which in turn merged with Snyder's of Hanover to form Snyder's-Lance. Archway is best known for its variations of oatmeal cookies.
Berner Honiglebkuchen are Lebkuchen traditionally made in Bern, Switzerland. Distinguished from other Lebkuchen by their sometimes elaborate sugar decorations, they are not to be confused with the Berner Haselnusslebkuchen, another Bernese specialty which is made from ground hazelnuts.
Dewey's Bakery is an American retail bakery offering fresh baked goods including custom cakes, Moravian cookies, cheese straws, and artisan cheese biscuits. Dewey's Bakery originated in Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 1930. The company's classic Moravian Cookies are known to many as “the world’s thinnest cookie," and were selected by O: The Oprah Magazine to be featured on the coveted "O List."
Moravian chicken pie is a savory meat pie that originated in the colonial town of Salem, North Carolina. It is a traditional double crusted pie made with flaky shortcrust pastry filled with only chunks of poached chicken meat and a thick broth-based sauce. Unlike chicken pot pies, vegetables are never included in the filling. The pie is served in slices with hot chicken gravy on top, and extra gravy on the side. Mashed potatoes are a common accompaniment.