"Fairings" was originally the common name for edible souvenirs sold at fairs around England. Fairings would vary throughout the country: at
Bartholomew Fair in
Smithfield, fairings of gingerbread were sold from 1126 to 1800; in the
northern counties, a traditional fairing would be a decorated "
paste egg" at Easter. The Cornish version included the spiced ginger biscuit which became famous in Victorian times. The complete fairing from Cornwall would include the ginger biscuit, along with almond and caraway
comfits (colloquially "lambs' tails" – actually sugar-coated
almonds and
caraway seeds),
crystallised angelica and
macaroons. Previously, the spices required to create the biscuits were exclusive to the wealthy classes, who used them to make cakes. A number of manufacturers started making ginger biscuits called "fairings" all over England. One example of this was in
Grasmere, where the gingerbread sold as fairings was so popular that
William Wordsworth's sister
Dorothy wrote in one of her journals that she and her brother both craved them. The recipe Furniss used is thought to have originated from a "maid-hiring" fair which used to take place during the week after Christmas, in
Launceston, Cornwall although Furniss Foods suggest the recipe came from the fairs held at
Whitsuntide or
Corpus Christi. Furniss went on to expand his company to
Furniss Foods, a well-known Cornish biscuit manufacturer, which created a number of different fairing varieties, such as "orange and lemon" or "apple and cinnamon".
Cornish foods are an essential element in the county's touristic appeal, with a survey by South West tourism showing food as one of the top three reasons people visit Cornwall. During an interview where he was launching a new line of biscuits, celebrity chef Rick Stein explained that he associated fairings with his childhood. ==References==