By Isla Quinn
The crust is the clue. Dark mahogany, a little shine, a bite that gives way before it yields. That skin does not come from the oven alone.
The dip
According to German Wikipedia’s article on the Laugenbrezel, the shaped dough is dipped for a few seconds in a sodium hydroxide solution of 3 to 5 per cent, with a pH of 13 to 14. In the oven, heat makes the lye react with the dough’s surface. Protein breaks down faster, and browning follows, the Maillard reaction. Colour and flavour both come from that. The article adds that households often use a soda solution made by boiling baking soda instead.
English Wikipedia agrees on the lye. It says the traditional skin and flavour come from a washing soda or lye treatment, with salt the commonest topping. Britannica tells it more briefly: the dough is briefly boiled, glazed with egg, salted and baked, and it does not mention lye at all. We set the three side by side and do not merge them.
Where the shape comes from
Nobody knows. German Wikipedia traces the word to the Latin for arm and says the twisted dough probably refers to crossed arms. English Wikipedia gives the Latin as bracellus, “bracelet”, or bracchiola, “little arms”. English Wikipedia says most accounts give pretzels Christian roots and European monks. Its most popular story puts the first one in 610 AD, made by an Italian monk as a treat for students, and marks it as unproven. German Wikipedia says current research cannot confirm any single origin.
It lists the rival tales. One links the shape to Celtic harvest knots. Another suggests it replaced pagan pastries banned at a synod in 743, a view put forward in an encyclopaedia of 1905. In Swabia, a baker named Frieder is sentenced by a count to bake a cake the sun can shine through three times; the legend dates the pretzel to 1477. In Alsace, a jailed baker is said to be freed by a guard who bends an iron bar into a pretzel. In Munich, a baker is credited with the lye pretzel in February 1839 after mixing up lye and sugar water, though the article says the court supplier he supposedly worked for cannot be confirmed. Legends, all of them.
What the old pictures show
There is some firmer ground. German Wikipedia says two Salzburg lectionaries, dated to about 1050 and 1070 to 1090, show pretzels, and that the Hortus deliciarum from Alsace shows one, supposedly from about 1160. English Wikipedia calls that Alsace illustration possibly the earliest depiction. The oldest documented bakers’ coat of arms with a pretzel is dated 1111, linked to a Speyer charter, but the only surviving image of that inscription is a drawing of 1756. The Museum der Brotkultur, the article says, finds pretzels on guild seals by about 1300.
Bakers’ sign
English Wikipedia says the pretzel has been an emblem of bakers and their guilds in southern German areas since at least the twelfth century. German Wikipedia says it appears on guild signs, bakers’ coats of arms and shop signs. Our reading: a shape that simple makes a good sign. Neither article says it in those words.
Swabian and Bavarian
German Wikipedia sets the two styles apart. The Swabian Brezel has thin, low-set arms and a thick belly, usually scored on top, which gives a smooth bulge and a softer crumb. It contains 3 to 10 per cent butter on flour. The Bavarian Brezn or Breze has arms of roughly even thickness, set higher, with an uneven belly, and contains at most 3 per cent butter, so it is crisper. English Wikipedia describes it the same way in broad terms: Swabian ones with very thin arms, a fat belly with a split and more fat; Bavarian ones with thicker arms and very little fat.
The protected name
“Bayerische Breze” is a protected geographical indication in the European Union. It was registered by Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) No 161/2014 of 18 February 2014, published in the Official Journal on 21 February 2014. We give no rules for the name and make no claim about what a bakery must do to use it. If a shop uses the phrase, ask the shop what it means by it.
Sizes
German Wikipedia gives a typical pretzel as about 83 g and says Oktoberfest pretzels weigh at least 250 g. Small ones are 3 to 5 cm. A typical Swabian lye pretzel is about 15 cm across. The New Year pretzel can reach 30 cm to over a metre and weigh up to 2.5 kg.
Dates in order
- 743: synod said to have banned pagan pastries, according to German Wikipedia citing a 1905 encyclopaedia.
- About 1050: Salzburg lectionary shows pretzels, according to German Wikipedia.
- 1111: bakers’ arms with a pretzel, known only from a 1756 drawing, according to German Wikipedia.
- About 1160: Hortus deliciarum, according to German Wikipedia.
- About 1300: pretzels on guild seals, according to German Wikipedia.
- 1477: Swabian legend date, according to German Wikipedia.
- 18 February 2014: Regulation (EU) No 161/2014 registers Bayerische Breze (Official Journal, 21 February 2014).
Questions a buyer would ask
Is the skin from lye or from boiling? Is this a Swabian or a Bavarian shape? Does the name on the sign mean anything legally? We name no bakery and no brand, and we give no prices.
What kind of sources these are
Two Wikipedia articles, German and English, Britannica, and the EU regulation that registered the name.
What we left out
We left out a German Wikipedia passage on aluminium in lye baking and the American industry figures in the English article, and we left out pairings with food and drink.
Quick answers
Why is a pretzel dark brown and glossy? According to German Wikipedia, the dough is dipped briefly in a lye solution, and heat then speeds browning. Households may use a soda solution instead.
What is the difference between Swabian and Bavarian pretzels? Per German Wikipedia, Swabian ones have thin arms, a thick belly and more butter; Bavarian ones have even arms and less fat, so they are crisper.
Why do bakers use a pretzel as a sign? English Wikipedia says it has been a bakers’ and guild emblem in southern German areas since at least the twelfth century.
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Roam first. Shop later.