Pretzel: who invented it or the history of the pretzel. Pretzel: who invented it or the history of the pretzel Who are you and where are you from, pretzel

Pretzel(from German. Kringeln“to bend, twist”) is a Northern European bakery product made from butter dough, resembling the letter B in appearance. In Germany and Northern European countries it is often depicted as an emblem on the signs of bread stores and bakeries.

According to legend, once upon a time the monks, wanting to thank the Creator for their daily bread, baked bread, giving it the shape of hands crossed on their chests in prayer. This is how the first pretzel appeared. In southern Germany, a salty variety of pretzel is popular - pretzel. In Russia, the word pretzel has been known since the 18th century. Vyborg, annexed in 1710, had the nickname “Pretzel City”. The Vyborg pretzel (buttery, with cardamom and numerous seasonings) was baked according to the recipe of the Franciscan monks and supplied to the imperial court since the time of Peter I. This variety of pretzel (Finnish: Viipurinrinkeli) is popular in Finland.

Pretzels typically contain: wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water. According to the traditional recipe, the shaped pretzel was boiled in water and baked in an oven on straw.

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Literature

1. // Pokhlebkin V.V. About cooking from A to Z: Dictionary-reference book. - Mn. : Polymya, 1988. - P. 80.

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Excerpt characterizing Pretzel

Why does the pretzel have this shape?

Residents of which US state eat the most pretzels?

Probably many people know that pretzels are a type of baked goods made from dough. They can be made from both hard and soft varieties, and come out sweet or salty.

Most pretzels are shaped like a knot. The unique pretzel shape is a symmetrical loop that is created by weaving a long strip of dough into a intricate pattern, creating a “pretzel loop.”

According to legend, the pretzel was invented by an Italian monk in 610 AD to reward children for their efforts in learning to pray. The ascetic folded strips of dough that resembled the crossed hands of praying children. He called his creation pretiola, which meant “small reward.”

Whether this legend is true, reflecting the history of the origin of the pretzel, no one knows for sure. However, most experts agree that the pretzel has Christian roots.

For example, in the Catholic Church, pretzels have religious value due to their ingredients. When baked using a simple recipe from flour and water, the bagels can be eaten during Lent, when Christians are prohibited from eating certain foods.

Over time, pretzels became associated with Lent and Easter. In fact, such baked goods were often prepared on Easter morning and eaten along with Easter eggs.

German and Swiss immigrants introduced the pretzel, or pretzel as it is often called in Germany, to North America in the 19th century.

In 1858, Casper Glur, a Swiss baker and member of the Swiss Colonization Society, settled in Tell, Indiana.

He soon became famous for his pretzels, which were baked according to a secret Swiss recipe. Today, the recipe remains a secret, and stories about the city of Pretzel still attract tourists from all over the world.

Baking was not so popular until a recipe for hard pretzels was invented in America. In 1850, the first commercial bakery producing hard pretzels was opened. This happened in Lititz, Pennsylvania. These pretzels became popular as a snack because they were more shelf-stable than soft pretzels when kept in an airtight container.

In the 20th century, pretzels became very popular in large cities. In particular, Philadelphia's large Italian-American population considers pretzels an integral part of the local cuisine. Today, the average Philadelphian eats about 12 times more pretzels than the average American.

Pennsylvania today remains the center of pretzel production in the United States, accounting for 80 percent of the country's pretzel baked goods. The pretzel industry produces more than $550 million annually in the United States, and the average American eats more than 3 pounds of pretzels every year.

Today, pretzel connoisseurs can enjoy their favorite baked goods with a variety of seasonings and ingredients. Including: special glaze, salt crystals, cinnamon, sugar, various nuts and all kinds of seeds. Pretzels can also be found in many interesting shapes: sticks, loops, braids, and even letters.

The German state of Bavaria is known as the birthplace of many traditions for which the country is famous throughout the world. It is believed that this is where everyone’s favorite pretzel was invented. “Around the World” figured out whether this was true and learned a lot of interesting things about the German pretzel.

Who are you and where are you from, pretzel?

A pretzel is a bread pastry with the ends of the braid playfully tucked and intertwined, creating a signature knot with two “ears” that is recognizable throughout the world. This knot was even officially nicknamed the pretzel loop. pretzel loop). This golden brown bagel is usually unsweetened and sprinkled with large granules of salt, which is why it is so popular in beer establishments. Now, however, you can find variations of it with cheese, seeds, nuts and even chocolate icing. The closest relative of the pretzel can be considered our native holey bagel.

Until now, few people agree on where pretzel actually came from, but one of the first mentions of such baked goods dates back to the distant 610 AD. e. The idea is attributed to Italian, and not at all German, monks, who came up with intricately shaped baked goods to pamper children who had learned the necessary prayers by heart. That’s what the treat was called - pretiola- literally “small reward”. The bizarre interlacing of the bread braid was supposed to illustrate the intertwining of hands on the believer’s chest while turning to God.

In different provinces and countries, the shape of the pretzel is different - the “arms” of the Bavarian one, for example, are almost the same thickness as the “body” and “belly”, as the lower part of the pastry is usually called here. While in other lands there are also very thin plexuses attached to a much more voluminous lower part.

A religious parallel is also drawn with the three “holes” in the finished pretzel - they are identified with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This theory, however, has not been confirmed by anyone, and the Germans are completely confident that the truth is behind them. According to legend, a baker who offended the Bavarian king invented the pretzel in an attempt to atone for his guilt. Knowing his baking skills as a baker, the king ordered him to bake bread through which he could see the sun three times at the same time.

The very name of the baked goods probably comes from Brezitella or Brachiatellium, which means "hands" in Old German and Latin respectively. Another theory points to Latin bracellus,"bracelet".

However, no matter where the pretzel came from, one thing is clear: it has won a strong place in many hearts and is clearly associated in almost everyone with delicious pastries. In almost all European cities, the ornate pretzel is used on bakery signs to attract the attention of visitors.

Cooking instructions

The dough ingredients for making a bread curl are the most trivial: flour, yeast, water, soda and salt. The original recipe meets all the canons of fasting and contains neither butter nor milk. Nowadays, though, you'll find both in most recipes—these two brothers allow the dough to become fluffier, the crust to brown, and the flavor to be creamier.

Making a German bagel is also a kind of entertainment - the risen yeast dough is given the correct shape by twisting it into two-centimeter sausages, twisting the ends of the braids together and then attaching the twisted tail to the bottom, widest part of the product.

Plump, raw pretzels should be placed near a window, preferably near a fan or near a slightly open window, so that they air out a little. This gives the crust its signature chewiness. After cooling, the products are lowered one by one into boiling water with soda until they float, which usually takes about five seconds. It is this procedure that allows the pretzels to sport a perfectly smooth brownish crust.

In a professional approach, that is, in industrial production, soda is replaced with sodium hydroxide, but you should be extremely careful with it and use gloves and special eye protection. Shiny scalded pretzels are generously sprinkled with large granules of salt or, if desired, seeds, sesame seeds, grated cheese and other additives. Then the workpiece is finally sent to the oven.

By the way, there were some legends here too. In Germany they are still arguing about who came up with the idea of ​​dipping a pretzel in a soda solution. Usually the baker's cat is considered a potential culprit. Allegedly, the mustachioed “chef” accidentally pushed the baked goods into the wash tub.

To each his own

Germany

In Bavaria you can find pretzel in absolutely any bakery or beer garden. This is the most universal dish, which is primarily loved by the locals themselves and is eaten for breakfast and lunch. Often the pretzel is cut in half, with a generous layer of butter, creating a “sandwich pretzel” (Butterbrezel). It is curious that our favorite “sandwich”, although it originated from the German Butterbrot, but means just “bread and butter” and in Germany is understood only as a pretzel with butter.

For lunch, bakeries offer sandwiches with meat, cheese and vegetables, framed by the same tanned bread knot. In beer establishments, pretzel is traditionally not cut, but is served in two sizes: small and huge - either by itself, or in addition with a spread called obatzda (Obatzda). At every beer yard (Beergarten) He has his own special recipe for dressing, which he is proud of, sometimes keeping it secret for many centuries in a row. The basis of obatzda is usually a mixture of two cheeses such as Camembert, mixed in equal proportions with butter and flavored with spices.

Pretzel is also always served as a snack. Weisswurst- white sausage with a sauce with the telling name “Bavarian sweet mustard” (Bayerischer Sußer Senf).

Luxembourg and Switzerland

In Luxembourg, on Easter Sunday they hold a whole festival code-named “Pretzel Resurrection”. According to tradition, young men present their young ladies with either a regular pretzel or a pretzel-shaped pie. The size of the baked goods directly depends on the volume of their feelings. In return, the girl can give the boyfriend an Easter egg, and in leap years, a whole pretzel, since at this time the initiative passes to them.

The expression “tying a knot” in relation to newlyweds also appeared thanks to the famous bakery product. For example, in Switzerland, at a wedding, a couple breaks a pretzel and makes a wish.

USA

Another “center of consumption” of pretzels is located on the other side of the world - in America, in the state of Pennsylvania, and specifically in the city of Philadelphia, where in the 19th century many immigrants from Southern Germany and Switzerland, the so-called Pennsylvania Dutch, gathered. They opened bakeries, introducing their favorite product to the New World, and quickly turned the pretzel into a local folk favorite. Today, pretzel paired with brown mustard has become a symbol of the city and an official part of the local cuisine. It can be found both in homes at the dinner table and in schools on students' trays.

The culture of fast food and snacks slightly modified historical baked goods, and hard pretzels became one of the most popular delicacies in the New World - small crispy crackers, no different in appearance and taste from their bulky soft-bodied “fathers”. The first factory for the production of unique crackers opened right there, in Pennsylvania, in the city of Lititz, in 1861. By the way, sometimes such pretzels are simple sticks with salt. But this, of course, is not a pretzel, but a completely different story.

Photo: ullstein bild / Contributor / Getty Images (x2), Nikada / Getty Images, Sean Gallup / Staff / Getty Images, Ulrich Baumgarten / Contributor / Getty Images, Anjelika Gretskaia / Getty Images

pretzel

pretzel, plural pretzels, pretzels, m. (from German Krengel). Butter twisted bun in the shape of the letter B. Butter pretzel. Vyborg pretzel. (buttery, with cardamom, named after the Finnish city of Vyborg). Curl up into a pretzel (unfolded) - lie bent over, tucking your legs to your chest. put your hand in a pretzel to someone (colloquial) - put your hand bent at the elbow, offering to walk under your arm, to lean on. Write or make a pretzel, walk out (with your feet) (colloquial) - walk with an unsteady gait, staggering a lot (about drunk people). Not for any pretzels (colloquially) - not for anything, not for any benefits; not for any price.

Explanatory dictionary of the Russian language. S.I.Ozhegov, N.Yu.Shvedova.

pretzel

I, plural -i, -ey and -ya, -ey, m. A twisted bread product resembling a figure eight in shape. * Write a pretzel (write out, make out) (simple) - walk staggering, with a drunken gait, write monograms.

decrease pretzel, lka, m.

adj. pretzel, oh, oh.

New explanatory dictionary of the Russian language, T. F. Efremova.

pretzel

A confectionery product made from butter dough in the shape of a twisted ring.

Something that resembles such a product in shape.

Wikipedia

Pretzel

Pretzel- a Northern European bakery product made from butter dough, resembling the letter B in appearance. In Germany and Northern European countries it is often depicted as an emblem on the signs of bread stores and bakeries.

According to legend, once upon a time the monks, wanting to thank the Creator for their daily bread, baked bread, giving it the shape of hands crossed on their chests in prayer. This is how the first pretzel appeared. In southern Germany, a salty variety of pretzel is popular - pretzel. In Russia, the word pretzel has been known since the 18th century. Annexed in 1710, Vyborg had the nickname “Pretzel City”. The Vyborg pretzel was baked according to the recipe of the Franciscan monks and supplied to the imperial court since the time of Peter I. This variety of pretzel is popular in Finland.

Pretzels typically contain: wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water. According to the traditional recipe, the shaped pretzel was boiled in water and baked in an oven on straw.

Examples of the use of the word pretzel in literature.

The Yenisei stood still, stood, the ice turned sour, soured, crunched at first sleepily, lazily, as if the river was stretching, but nevertheless it warmed up, stirred itself up, drove a stripe, cracked the ridge, and immediately it became whitely visible as rearing, squeezed ice, and it breathed steam there the stale water swirled and rushed along the cracks and breaks to the shores, and the river immediately became crowded, and it began to flow in all directions, and had already pushed one and another ice floe onto the shore, there the hummock began to pile up on a stone bull, and it broke winter road, dark markers floated, and yellow pretzel the roads twisted and twisted along the guards, breaking off pieces from them, chewing the ice with fangs with a crash, and from above, from distant places, even steeper and more energetic water poured in, and pure ice with someone’s fenced-in ice holes, paths, forgotten bridges, heaps of mud , with wood chips - they laid a log house and a log with an ax stuck in it on the ice - they rolled the log house ashore in a hurry and did not have time to grab the log with the ax, no, they managed to drag it, almost reached the shore, but the ice was cleared

So much so that some time after the conquest of this port he presented it as a gift to his wife the Empress on her birthday, joking that this was not an ordinary birthday pretzel.

But no one dared to blow on this dandelion, especially me and Pretzel, because Grandma Wolf was watching us.

One evening, when the stars lit up in the sky, we Pretzel wandered around the Krutitsky tower.

Jumping onto the platform, the passengers turned up the heat, and we Pretzel They dived now to the right, now to the left, weaving between suitcases and bundles, trying to be the first to jump into the carriage.

We are with Pretzel They jumped out into the street and, urged on by shouts and shots, ran across the square to the third iron house.

Multi-colored ribbons flutter from the shield under pretzel, and it seems as if the pretzel is completely alive, as if it is breathing with its rosy belly.

On the fifteenth of July ninety-four we, a group of four people led by Pretzel, went to the village near Olovo.

So, on the fifteenth of July, a group of four volunteers led by Pretzel was transferred to the area near Olovo, to replace the Russian group located there.

Snake with pretzel, if the snake is twisted well, a pretzel with a lifebuoy, a lifebuoy with the ocean, an ocean with a nautical map, a map printed on paper, toilet paper, a toilet with cologne, cologne with alcohol, alcohol with alcohol, alcohol with drugs, those with a syringe, syringe with a hole, a hole with a hole, a hole with a bed, a bed with potatoes - and the circle is closed.

Clerk pretzel He bent over, spread his arms like a frog, spun his legs like a wheel, and also began to howl in his nose to match a fashionista: “Yes, sir, we have for you exactly what you want, sir!”

Of course they are back,” shouted the King, triumphantly pointing to the dish with pretzels standing on the table.

The soldier accompanying them began to push pillows, bags and bundles of food into their feet. pretzels, rolls, so that my young people were completely fenced off from each other.

After the allotted time, Sockeye Salmon brought six excellent muzzled, steep-sided puppies of pure bulldog breed, which were spoiled by one small detail: each puppy had a large black fluffy one lying on its back pretzel tail.

Wagging his tail lying on his back pretzel, the scoundrel jumped up to Nerka with clearly matrimonial intentions.

Pretzel is a product made from butter dough, prepared in the shape of the number 8. The appearance of this pastry is often the same, but there are many baking options.

There are many secrets and mysteries associated with the history of the origin of this type of baking. The word pretzel, translated from German, means twist, bend. From the very beginning, the pretzel shape meant crossing the arms across the chest for prayer. The peasants began to bake pretzels for various church ceremonies, but during fasting, they had to eat pretzels without baking. After some time, pretzels were no longer eaten on church holidays, and began to be served as a snack.

Pretzels first appeared in Russia thanks to Peter I, who brought the pretzels from Vyborg. Very quickly, pretzels became popular and were loved by the whole yard. Pretzels were brought to the emperor several times a month. Local bakers could not find out the recipe for making pretzels, and only in the 50s, baker Ivan Ivanov managed to borrow the recipe from the Finns. Since then, pretzel has become one of the most favorite delicacies among Russian people. You can learn more about creating pretzels in the video.

Types of pretzels

Nowadays, there are many types of pretzels, which differ both in appearance and composition. Among all types, the most common are:

Pretzel, which is a classic in Germany, is often prepared salted and served with beer. Before baking, this type is dipped for a few seconds in a solution of baking soda.

Russian pretzel is a sweet bun sprinkled with granulated sugar, prepared in a figure eight.

Estonian pretzel is a bun that is often prepared with various types of fillings, such as berries, meat and many others. This type of baking is distinguished by its yeast dough, which does not crumble when broken.

The benefits and harms of pretzels

Pretzels are considered healthy due to their composition. Pretzel contains a large amount of B vitamins and many useful macro- and microelements. With moderate consumption of this type of baking, the condition of the nervous system will improve, and hair and nails will also become stronger.

The only harm of pretzel lies in the fact that the classic form of this bun contains a large amount of calories and carbohydrates, so the consumption of this type of bun should be moderate, otherwise extra pounds may appear. People should also limit their consumption of pretzels to avoid raising their blood sugar levels.

Cooking at home

Making pretzels at home is not a difficult task, but it is very delicate. There are several steps to making pretzels that won't take up much of your personal time.

For preparation you will need the following ingredients:

1.5 glasses of water;

4 cups flour;

2 tsp Sahara;

2 tsp salt;

2 tsp dry yeast;

30 g ghee (no salt);

½ tbsp. soda;

2 egg yolks.

Stage No. 1 - Prepare the dough

First, mix water, salt and sugar in a saucepan. You need to stir until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved, and only then add dry yeast. After stirring slightly, leave the resulting mixture for 15 minutes.

Then pour the flour on top of the resulting mixture, the main thing is to sprinkle it evenly, this makes it easier to mix it.

Using a blender or mixer, mix the ingredients at the slowest speed. You can also knead using a wooden spoon or your hands.

If you use an electric device for kneading the dough, then you need to knead at medium speed until the dough begins to stick to the walls, and with your hands you need to knead for about 15 minutes until it stops sticking to your hands.

After kneading the dough, you need to grease the bowl with ghee and put the dough there. Then cover with cling film and put in a warm place for about 2 hours, until it has increased several times.

Stage No. 2 - Preparing the pretzels

Next, apply oil to the surface on which the work process will take place, and place the dough on it. Using our hands, we begin to roll out the dough, forming a rope up to the length of the forearm. Then you need to divide the tourniquet into parts.

To make classic pretzels, start by laying the dough in a U shape and crossing the ends, pressing them together.

Before boiling the pretzels, make sure the dough is tightly knit together, otherwise they will fall apart in the water.

Stage No. 3 - Cook and bake

At this stage of cooking, you must turn on the oven in advance. To prepare soft pretzels, heat the oven to 220 °C, and for hard pretzels to 190 °C.

After you have set the oven to heat, you need to pour nine glasses of water into the pan and add baking soda. Place this pan on the fire and bring to a boil.

When the water has boiled, take the pretzels and drop them into the water one at a time for 40 seconds. After 40 seconds, the pretzels are placed on a baking sheet.

In order for the pretzel crust to be golden and crispy, you need to brush the pretzels with a mixture of egg yolk and two tablespoons of water. Once the pretzels are coated, sprinkle them with salt.

To get soft pretzels, they need to be put in the oven for fifteen minutes. But baking hard pretzels will take about one hour, and every twenty minutes you need to check to see if they are burnt.

After baking the pretzels, remove them from the oven and place them on a plate. Let them cool for 15 minutes. Best served with sauces.