Pretzel

A pretzel is a bread pastry of Medieval European origin that has the shape of a three looped knot or twisted braid. Pretzels are either soft or hard. Hard pretzels have evolved into a variety of shapes from knotted loops to straight "pretzel sticks" (called Salzstangen in German, Ropi in Hungarian). The pretzel dough is made from wheat flour, water, sugar, and yeast, sprinkled with coarse salt. Pretzels are typically glazed with lye and salted. Pretzels can be found in a variety of shapes and sizes. Traditional soft pretzels are about the size of a hand. The wedding phrase "tying the knot" got its start when a pretzel was used to tie the knot between two prominent families. The pretzel's loops stood for everlasting love. Since the pretzel was invented, bakers have come up with a wide variety of shapes and flavors.