The Pretiola
In the early 600’s a monastery in southern France or northern Italy monks twisted scraps of dough into an odd shape. They twisted the dough to resemble arms folded in prayer, baked it and used the resulting product as rewards for their young students who memorized Bible verses and prayers. During this time period people crossed their arms over their chests when praying so the shape took the form of what we now know of as the pretzel.
These food rewards where known as pretiola, which is Latin for little reward. It also became known as brachiola, an Italian word for little arms. The three empty holes in the pretzel became associated with the holy Trinity (God, Christ and the Holy Spirit). The treat eventually found its way to Germany, where it was renamed bretzel. Eventually this name evolved into pretzel.
The pretzel found its way to the United States via immigrants who brought the pretzel with them during the 1800’s. Pennsylvania became a big player in the pretzel business. The hard pretzel came about as a mistake. It is said that a lazy baker’s helper fell asleep on duty and let the flames die out on a batch. When he awoke he re-started the fire and in the process baked all the moisture out of the batch.
His furious master settle down enough to test this failed product and soon the dried pretzel became a best seller. The town of Lititiz in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania (which boasts a large Amish community) became the home of the first commercial pretzel bakery in 1861.
The Amish are very fond of pretzels and frequently bake these tasty treats for family and as a commercial enterprise in small shops and to sell at farmer’s markets. One of the best recipes for a soft, buttery pretzel comes from the Amish. The recipe is also a very easy one to follow and the final product can be folded into the typical pretzel shape or can be made into four or six inch sticks. It can also be halved if you don’t want a large batch of pretzels, but they will go fast!
Chewy Baked Pretzels
1 1/4 cups very warm water ( 100-105° F )
1 tablespoon yeast
1/4 cup brown sugar
4 cups flour
1/2 cup baking soda
3 cups hot water
Coarse salt
½ c. (one stick) of melted, clarified butter
Place the warm water into a large mixing bowl and dissolve the yeast in the water. Add the brown sugar and flour to this mix. Do NOT knead, but mix with spoon and/or your hands. Kneading will make the dough tough. Cover the bowl with a damp towel, place in warm area of the kitchen (the top of the refrigerator is a good spot) and let the dough rise until it is doubled (this will take from 20 to 30 minutes.) Preheat the oven to 500 °F.
Remove the towel and turn the dough out onto bread board or marble slab-you may need to lightly flour the area but don‘t use too much flour. Tear off chunks of dough, about the size of a fist, and shape the dough into long ropes approximately ½ inch thick. The rope can either be shaped into a pretzel shape or it can be cut into sticks of four to six inches.
Dissolve the ½ c. baking soda into the three cups hot water. Dip the prepared pretzels into this solution, place onto a well-greased baking sheet (they will not spread much so can place fairly close together) then sprinkle with coarse salt. Bake for four to six minutes, watching carefully for the pretzels to turn golden brown. Remove the pretzels from the oven, then remove from the baking sheet with tongs and dip the top into the melted butter.
You can make your pretzels into other delicious flavors (although the salted butter ones are absolutely fabulous!) You can skip the salting step and then after removal from oven dip the face of the pretzel in the butter then sprinkle a generous serving of cinnamon sugar on the face. Or instead of using salt sprinkle the face or dip the face into poppy seeds or sesame seeds. Another twist is to sprinkle the buttered pretzel with garlic powder, cheddar cheese powder or sour cream and onion.
