Germany
Photo: Sundar1, CC BY-SA 3.0, croppedBrezel
/ˈbʁeːtsl̩/BRAY-tsel
Recording: GeoTrinity, CC BY-SA 3.0
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- Taste
- Savory
- Made with
- Wheat & flour
History
The Brezel is a knot of dough dipped in a lye solution before baking, which gives it its deep brown, shiny skin and distinctive taste, and sprinkled with coarse salt. Its shape, possibly representing arms crossed in prayer, is linked to monasteries of the Middle Ages, and it was a symbol of German bakers' guilds. In Bavaria, where it is called Brezn, it is eaten with white sausages for a late breakfast and at beer gardens. Swabian pretzels have thin, crisp arms and a fat belly. Legend says lye was first used by accident in a Munich bakery in 1839.
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