FOOD NEWS
The Buttery Bavarian Pretzels That Put American Kinds To Shame
BY JULIA HOLLAND
Germany is one of the purported birthplaces of pretzels, and the region of Bavaria offers a delicious type of soft pretzel that's a far cry from the kind you can buy at the mall.
Bavarian pretzels are soft and chewy with crisp crusts. The shiny crust comes from dipping uncooked pretzels in diluted lye, giving them the name of laugenbrezel or lye pretzels.
Also called brezen, the pretzels come in sweet and savory varieties, including the beloved butterbrezen, sprinkled with coarse salt, sliced in half, and stuffed with fresh butter.
German pretzels have thick, bulbous, doughy borders with thinner, crunchier crossed arms in, while American pretzels tend to have uniform thickness all around.
Bavarian pretzels also have a chewier crumb and a tangier finish than American pretzels. A steamy, rich pretzel à la butterbrezen is a revelation you can only savor in Bavaria.