When: April 26
The pretzel is one of the oldest snack foods in recorded history, with documented production in German and Alsatian monasteries by at least the 8th century. The distinctive shape has a specific origin story, and the lye bath is what makes a pretzel a pretzel.
One of the oldest foods in continuous production — pretzels have been made essentially the same way for at least 600 years.
The pretzel is one of the oldest documented baked goods in Western history. The earliest visual depiction of a pretzel shape appears in an illuminated manuscript from around 1081 CE, but oral tradition places pretzel production in European monasteries as early as the 7th–8th century CE. The standard story — that a monk shaped leftover bread dough to represent a child's arms crossed in prayer and gave it to children who learned their prayers — may be legend, but the three-hole shape does appear to represent crossed arms. The pretzel is deeply embedded in German and Alsatian culture. The pretzel is the emblem of German bakers' guilds, appearing on shop signs since the Middle Ages. Philadelphia, settled heavily by German immigrants, became the center of pretzel production in America — Pennsylvania produces approximately 80% of U.S. hard pretzels. What makes a pretzel technically distinct from other bread is the lye (Laugengebäck) treatment. Traditional pretzels are briefly dipped in a...