Pretzels were popularized in the United States by German immigrants in the 18th century and today they are a considered staple snack in both Germany and the United States. However pretzels did not originate in Germany nor in the United States, but in Italy.
Pretzels were first invented by an Italian monk in the 7th century as a reward to young children for learning their prayers. Around 610 AD, from his monastery in northern Italy, the monk folded strips of unleavened bread dough to resemble the crossed arms of a praying monk, with three holes to represent the Trinity. He called his creation pretiola, which means “little rewards” in Latin.
In addition to the shape, these “little rewards” had another religious significance: the ingredients. The simple version of the recipe could be made using only flour and water. During season of Lent, the consumption certain ingredients such as milk, eggs or lard was forbidden by Catholic custom. As a result, pretzels were commonly eaten by Italian monks for sustenance during the Lenten season.
From Italy these treats spread across the Alps to southern France, Switzerland, Austria and Germany, where they were called bretzel (pretzel). According to an old Alsatian tradition, the word bretzel would derive not from pretiola, but from the Italian town of Brescello, which according to Alsatian tradition would be the place of origin of the pretzel.
References:
• Russell R. Esposito (The Golden Milestone: Over 2500 Years of Italian Contributions to Civilization, 2000)
• Arturo Barone (The Italian Achievement, 2007)
