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The Brezel

 Brigitte Trojahn

History

Experts of ethnic studies, linguists and historians have tried very often to reveal the secret of the name "Brezel". I was very much interested to find out why it was formed and cooked like a coiled rope since more than 1000 years and why the bakers have chosen it as their code of arms for many hundred years. This interested me in particular because it is on of my favourite breads.

The salty "Brezel" is one of the most known and widespread-formed breads which are no longer connected with a special date or a festivity. Today's form of the "Brezel" corresponds to the baker's code of arms, in the past there existed also a form called "Beugel"(a sort of croissant). "Beugel" means " something formed to a semicircle". The term "Brezel" derives from the latin term "Bracellus" (small arms) because it looks like a bread formed like two crossed arms. The "Brezel" was already known in the late antiquity and early Christianity and together with the "Beugel" which was equal in dough and manufacturing it was seen not only in the monasteries as the most important bread of the fasting period.

The "Brezel" and the "Beugel" were made of very hard dough, which was divided into pieces, formed into cords and then given its special form. The "Brezel" and the "Beugel" were dipped for a few minutes into slightly boiling water and then put onto a long wooden board sprinkled with salt, if the were to be eaten right away; "Brezel" intended for stocks remained unsalted.

Fasting and praying from Ash Wednesday on was the preparation for Easter. A "Brezel" and a "Beugel" tied together by a string were taken home to those who didn't go to a confession. During the games played in the pubs on all Saints/All Souls Day they were also given as prizes. In the eighteenth century the "Brezel-period" was limited to 40 days before the Easter. It was a tradition that to the children "who brushed away the ashes" of the adults on Ash Wednesday a "Brezel" was given as a reward. Different customs of the guilds marked the end of the "Brezel-period". The baking of the "Brezel" ended on Thursday before Easter and the baker apprentices were carried across the market to the watering place of the horses and thrown into the water. In order to show the end of the fasting period and the beginning of Easter the new typical bread of this period, the "Easter patch" was presented on Easter Monday.

The "Brezel" was and still is an ornament for the Summer-day decorations used in processions and in Easter palm fronds. The "Palmbrezel" is bigger than the fasting "Brezel" - it is sweet "eggbrezel".

In contrast to many other breads formed by hand, which have been manufactured for a long time - only and also - at home, the "Brezel" has always been a bakery product. Even in this century the so called "Brezelbäk" with his long stick or basket full of "Brezel" was a typical street seller.

Personally I especially liked the following story about the origin of the term "Brezel" which I would like to tell:

A hundred years ago the Count of Urach had a very famous baker who had been found guilty of theft, which as a rule resulted in severe punishment. In order not to loose his best baker, the count decided to give him a chance to save his life. Within three days the baker had to invent a bread through which the sun could shine three times. While the baker was thinking about this, he observed his wife talking to a neighbour with her arms crossed. This gave him the idea to use the form of the crossed arms for the bread. Thus he resolved the problem of inventing a bread through which the sun could shine three times. The Latin name for small arms is "bracchia" and folded hands are "brazula". Later it was simply called "Brazel" and even later "Brezel".

Recipe for "Brezel"

Prepare a dough of 600 g flour, 12 g salt, 20 g malt, 60 g butter, 60 g yeast and ¼ l water. Fill an enamel or glass pot with 1 l of water and bring the water to boil. Take the dough, form a long roll and cut it into 15 even pieces. Roll each piece to a cord of 30 cm with thin ends and thicker in the middle. Form 15 "Brezel" and fix the ends well. Let them rest at a room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes. Add two spoons of natrium-carbonate (from the drugstore) to boiling water. Using a skimmer dip the "Brezel" one after the other for 30 seconds into the boiling water. Then take them out, let them drip off and sprinkle them with salt. Having done so with all "Brezel" put them into cold oven, heat at 200 C and bake them for 20 minutes until they are brown.