Pretzelgate

Red Baron blogged about Brezeln (pretzels) before. Toddlers in strollers sucking lye pretzels are typical to Freiburg's streetscape. This is why today's article in the Badische Zeitung about a traditional Freiburg baker buying deep-frozen pretzels in Swabia and selling them crisped up on Baden territory stirred up the minds of Freiburgers. The form of the pretzel presented in the newspaper article should comfort the local population somewhat. It clearly shows a Bavarian Brezn and not a Swabian Brezel.

Bavarian Brezn with "highly" attached arms (©Wikipedia)

Swabian Brezel with arms below and a belly showing a hernia (©Guido Augustin)

Still, the local pretzel scene is uneasy. Reporters questioned local bakers, and all except one faithfully promised to bake their own pretzels. At the same time, discounters sell crisped-up pretzels using cheap deep-frozen Teiglinge (pieces of dough) formed in Poland and even further away in Romania. Many people are fighting globalization; should we fight Europeanization?

Let taste decide the pretzelgate, although toddlers are no impartial judges. For them, the salt crust counts (very bad), and this is often thicker on cheap pretzels.

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