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<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\nGingerbread has been delighting taste buds worldwide for centuries. Gingerbread likely came from the middle East or Asia<\/strong>, where people have been making it for over a thousand years. Legend has it that gingerbread arrived in Europe in the tenth century where a monk named Gregory Makar brought the recipe from Armenia to France. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n As the treat became more popular throughout Europe, gingerbread shaping became an art form<\/strong>. People would carve a picture into a piece of wood and press dough into the mold, and their cookies would look like the picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After the Brothers Grimm wrote the story of Hansel and Gretal<\/strong>, Germans began to make gingerbread houses just like the one in the story. Later, when Germans immigrated to America, they brought this tradition along with them for many Americans as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every winter, in the city of Bergen Norway, children ages eleven and under are invited to build an entire city of gingerbread. This magical display is called Pepperkakebyen<\/em>, which means gingerbread town.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Candy architects can also participate in the National Gingerbread House Competition<\/strong> in Asheville, North Carolina. Contestants have gone way beyond houses, too, building castles, barns and birdhouses!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n