Germany-brezel

=About the Brezel-a part of german culture=

A **pretzel** is a bread pastry of Medieval European (probably Italian and German) 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. Most hard pretzels are only 2-3mm thick. Hard pretzels which are 0.8-1.5 cm thick are called Bavarian pretzels. In the United States, pretzels are a popular snack, Pennsylvania being the center of pretzel history and production. One American variety is yoghurt-covered pretzels (or "ghost-face"), with a thin coating of yogurt. Hard pretzels are also available with a sweet candy coating of chocolate, strawberry and other flavors. Chocolate-covered hard pretzels are very popular, especially around Christmas time. Other serving possibilities include pretzels dipped in mustard. Pretzels are common in southern Germany (Swabia, Baden and Bavaria), and Switzerland, where they are often sliced horizontally, buttered and sold as //Butterbrezel//. In Bavaria they eat pretzels for breakfast, with Weisswurst sausage. In Hungary they are called //perec//. Other sources derive the name from Latin //bracellus// (a medieval term for "bracelet"), or //bracchiola// ("little arms"). Large, soft, salted unglazed pretzels arrive every morning to the bakery shops, together with freshly baked bread, and are sold fresh in almost every bakery shop. They are popular pastries, consumed between meals, eaten alone or together with yogurt or milk. Tiny hard glazed pretzels and pretzel sticks are sold in packages as snacks. (this was taken from [], and slightly edited.

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