Breads Bavarian "Brezen" (Pretzels)

[ian]

Ya, I ground some extremely coarse salt I had on hand up in a mortar and pestle, then sifted it.

https://www.amazon.com/Medley-Hills...066&sprefix=pretzel+salt+germa,aps,133&sr=8-2
This looks like something accessible to me. Maybe will get some at some point.


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The taste was pretty good. Idk if you have to eat them right after they come out of the oven... I think we waited 40 min or so and the texture was not as soft inside as I would have liked. It's hard for me to tell how successful my attempt was. I feel like the ones you get in the states often have a more enriched dough? There's milk and butter in this, but not a ton it seems. Everyone usually brushes them with butter afterwards, too, though.

 

[Michi]

Ya, I ground some extremely coarse salt I had on hand up in a mortar and pestle, then sifted it.

Fair enough. You make do with what you have

https://www.amazon.com/Medley-Hills...066&sprefix=pretzel+salt+germa,aps,133&sr=8-2
This looks like something accessible to me. Maybe will get some at some point.

Looks like the real thing. I'm sure there are lots of other sources for this. Do give it a try, it does make a difference.

The taste was pretty good. Idk if you have to eat them right after they come out of the oven... I think we waited 40 min or so and the texture was not as soft inside as I would have liked. It's hard for me to tell how successful my attempt was. I feel like the ones you get in the states often have a more enriched dough? There's milk and butter in this, but not a ton it seems. Everyone usually brushes them with butter afterwards, too, though.

40 minutes seems fine. The best time to eat a Brezen is when it is still lukewarm. Unbeatable.

Other than the very small amount of butter in the recipe, don't be tempted to add more milk or more fat. The real deal does not need this. And it will taste "wrong" (in the sense of not tasting like a traditional Brezen). If you enrich the dough too much, the texture of the crumb will go too much in the direction of milk bread. Too dense, too spongy, too soft, and too sweet.

Brushing them with butter is a crutch. Or, more accurately, it is an abomination. Don't do it. There is a special place in hell for people who brush their Brezen with butter. At least, I'm fairly sure there is. And if there isn't, they ought to add another special place just for those people

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

First attempt. They’re ugly ducklings but they’re damn tasty.
I found the stretching out rolling a bit of a challenge so need to practice a bit more (that Manitoba flour is crazy elastic). By the looks of it I proved for too long too….
Hats off to you @Michi, there’s magic in that water spray, it really does improve the crust.

A few dumb questions:
- Does that water spray out of the oven trick work for normal baking too? Or is it just some kind of magic working with the hydroxide residue?
- Is the lye solution just supercharging the milliard reaction? Or is it the thing that’s creating the crust, or both?
- Is the malt syrup (I had to use barley as I couldn’t find rye for the life of me) adding anything flavour wise?
- Any comments on why starting with active yeast the day before, rather than the many other recipes I’ve seen that just smash the instant yeast the day of baking?
- Would a sourdough starter work or would that just screw with the proving time and flavour profile?

 

[Michi]

You got most of the way there. They look good, and I'm sure they are tasty!

Some tips:

• Don't use Manitoba. Brezen are made with ordinary 550 flour. Look for something with around 11% protein. I use Caputo all-purpose flour (blue packet).
• The wrinkles you have on the Brezen are from overproofing. Get them into the fridge a little sooner next time, and apply the lye straight away while they are still cold. Makes the dough a lot easier to handle.
• The water spray works with other things too. Bread, bread rolls, etc. You need to make sure that you spray immediately after taking them out of the oven.
• The lye breaks down when exposed to heat. There is some reaction with the dough, but I don't know the details. Not sure whether that properly is a Maillard reaction or not. The lye is important though. It changes taste and texture and smell. Brezen are not the same without it; you won't get that same splintery crust with the typical lye taste, and you won't get that deep chestnut-brown colour.
• The malt syrup is there for better browning, as well as providing some sugar for the yeast. Barley malt syrup is fine. As far as flavour is concerned, I suspect you could leave it out without noticing that it's missing, but your Brezen might not brown as well.
• The preferment makes for more flavour. Without it, you'll still get nice Brezen, but they'll taste a lot more like white bread that way, with less complexity. (Most bakers in Bavaria won't use a preferment. I believe that this went out the window a long time ago because it's an extra step. But they do come out more flavourful that way.)
• I have never tried making Brezen with sourdough. I'm sure it would work. You would have to experiment to find out the right inoculation rate. The genuine thing is made with yeast. If you use sourdough, the flavour will change. (Maybe for the better. There is no harm in trying. It's just that I wouldn't call them genuine Brezen anymore.)

For the shaping, your dough snakes are too short. You need to make them 65-70 cm long. That allows you to sling the Brezen such that they are more open. You should have three windows with roughly equal area.

Also, make the snakes thinner towards the ends, for about the last 15 cm. The middle bits that cross over are supposed to be quite thin, so they get crispy. The main ring is more bready and soft because it is thicker.

The salt is applied to the main ring of the Brezen. The arms in the middle are normally left unsalted.

Finally, the middle bits (called "Brazerln" in Bavaria) are supposed to stick out just a little over the main body, so you have two small protruding knobs. That's really getting into the finer points though, I wouldn't lose too much sleep over that

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Awesome feedback Michi. A lot of things to work on!
Yeah, the Manitoba was so elastic it snapped back from 70cm to 40cm pretty quickly. Sorting out the flour will make a big difference. That and some excuse for delicious practice……
If the preferment makes a difference to the taste, what brand do you use? I was rocking the Tandaco sachet from the supermarket but it seemed a bit one dimensional?
For the Brazerln (love the detail), if you prove face down first, wouldn’t the knobbly bits get flattened? Or is proving right side up after enough to puff them up again?

Thanks, I’m looking forward to trying the water spray on my next sourdough rye bread, and see if the crust changes.

 

[Michi]

If the preferment makes a difference to the taste, what brand do you use? I was rocking the Tandaco sachet from the supermarket but it seemed a bit one dimensional?

I don't think the choice of yeast matters. I'm using ordinary Lowan Whole Foods yeast from the supermarket, but I've used other brands in the past. What I might try though is to make the preferment with sourdough next time. It'll be interesting to see what that does to the flavour.

For the Brazerln (love the detail), if you prove face down first, wouldn’t the knobbly bits get flattened? Or is proving right side up after enough to puff them up again?

They tend to puff out again. All the pictures I've posted show Brezen that were upside down for the first half of fermentation. Some of them have slightly flattened knobs, others don't. I honestly wouldn't lose any sleep over it

 

[Michi]

I just made another batch, this time using sourdough for the preferment:

• 10 g active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 65 g all-purpose flour
• 35 g water
• 0.7 g salt

These turned out extremely nice. A bit more oven spring than I usually get, resulting in a very airy crumb. The sourdough contributes a little to the flavour. Rather than adding a sour note, it is more a change in depth of flavour; there is a bit more complexity and interest in the taste.

This is the best batch I ever made. I think I might stick with the sourdough preferment, and tradition be damned

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Awesome @Michi! I’m going to have to try that!
Some follow up questions:
- I’ve only keep a rye sourdough starter, is that going to be okay to use? Or do I need to create a wheat only sourdough starter to get the most out of it?
- Any changes to preferment time / duration as a result of the potentially slower sourdough fermentation rate?
- I’m guessing if I pre-fermented for a longer duration it would get a more sour taste in the preferment?

And yes, tradition be damned! If it tastes good, then I ain’t no purist.

 

[Michi]

Some follow up questions:
- I’ve only keep a rye sourdough starter, is that going to be okay to use? Or do I need to create a wheat only sourdough starter to get the most out of it?
- Any changes to preferment time / duration as a result of the potentially slower sourdough fermentation rate?
- I’m guessing if I pre-fermented for a longer duration it would get a more sour taste in the preferment?

And yes, tradition be damned! If it tastes good, then I ain’t no purist.

Nothing terrible will happen with a rye sourdough starter, I'm sure. There is so little of it in the overall dough that you won't get any colour change because of it either.

I didn't change fermentation time. Made the preferment at around lunch time. I let it hang out a little longer than usual, maybe a little over three hours, before putting it into the fridge. I used it about 24 hours after I made it. Just use your judgement. You want to see a little fermentation activity before starting the cold fermentation.

I have no idea what would happen if you let the preferment go for longer because I never tried doing that. Again, nothing terrible would happen, I'm sure. If you leave it for longer, it'll develop even more flavour, so I can well imagine that it might be a good thing. I doubt that you'd end up tasting any sourness even if you let the preferment go for a long time, simply because there isn't that much preferment compared to the whole dough.

Try it and see what happens!

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

@Michi - My belated second attempt.
I’ve tried the sourdough pre-ferment, which I agree added to the depth of flavour.
I think I need to dial in my pre-ferment recipe with the sourdough starter, how much starter do you use?
I’ve only got a rye starter, but it didn’t taint the flavour at all.
I think I might have used a bit too much dry yeast as I got a lot of oven spring that I didn’t plan for.
Or is that amount of oven spring to be expected and I should just roll thinner?
The lower protein flour made a big difference to rolling and shaping, so big thanks for that tip. Rolling with the spray takes a bit of practice but I think I paid my school fees on the first batch so these at least look a bit more closer to the mark.

Pre bake

Post bake (pre the kids devouring)

I really got a good mahogany colour which is really satisfying.
That water spray still makes me chuckle each time is see it work. It’s like a magic trick (after the earlier science experiment with the lye solution).
I opted for the non-traditional scored split, which I love, but aware that’s non-traditional.
Shout out to the deliberately crispy knobs on the end (which after you pointed that out, I wanted to try out), they are very nice crunchy bits.

 

[Michi]

@Michi - My belated second attempt.
I’ve tried the sourdough pre-ferment, which I agree added to the depth of flavour.
I think I need to dial in my pre-ferment recipe with the sourdough starter, how much starter do you use?
I’ve only got a rye starter, but it didn’t taint the flavour at all.
I think I might have used a bit too much dry yeast as I got a lot of oven spring that I didn’t plan for.
Or is that amount of oven spring to be expected and I should just roll thinner?

I can't see what they looked like before fermenting, but they look good to me! You could roll them just a little longer so you can have the windows in the shape a little larger, especially the bottom one. That would also allow you to make them a little wider so, instead of a nearly circular overall shape, you get a more oval shape. But, really, that's nit-picking. There is absolutely nothing wrong with these!

For the pre-ferment, I used this:

• 10 g active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 65 g all-purpose flour
• 35 g water
• 0.7 g salt

That's the same as the original recipe, just with sourdough, and adjusted such that the hydration stays the same.

Post bake (pre the kids devouring)

They look bloody awesome, congratulations! You made the real thing!

I opted for the non-traditional scored split, which I love, but aware that’s non-traditional.

Non-traditional for Bavarian Brezen, but traditional for Swabian ones, which always have the slash. What you made is sort of a hybrid of Bavarian and Swabian because Swabian Brezen differ in a few other minor details. (Not that they taste any different.)

You just earned the title of being an authentic German Brezen baker Down Under

I don't say this lightly—there are very few people who manage to make something even close to this standard!

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

I can't see what they looked like before fermenting, but they look good to me! You could roll them just a little longer so you can have the windows in the shape a little larger, especially the bottom one. That would also allow you to make them a little wider so, instead of a nearly circular overall shape, you get a more oval shape.

Good feedback. So oval width ways? Or oval length ways? Would the windows at the top be taller or wider?

• 10 g active sourdough starter (100% hydration)
• 65 g all-purpose flour
• 35 g water
• 0.7 g salt

I was a little off then… will aim for this next bake.

Non-traditional for Bavarian Brezen, but traditional for Swabian ones, which always have the slash. What you made is sort of a hybrid of Bavarian and Swabian because Swabian Brezen differ in a few other minor details. (Not that they taste any different.)

I did a bit of googling on Swabian brezen, they look to me to have a higher fat content (more butter) and a more accentuated shape (bulbous thick bit and pencil thin arms)?
I’ll be interested to try that out once, I’m guessing it might get more of a hard biscuit in the arms?

You just earned the title of being an authentic German Brezen baker Down Under

I don't say this lightly—there are very few people who manage to make something even close to this standard!

Thanks mate, that’s high praise!

Yeah, my wife was so impressed she declared them better than the German Pretzel cafe that closed down during covid.

 

[Michi]

Good feedback. So oval width ways? Or oval length ways? Would the windows at the top be taller or wider?

They should be a little wider than tall (with the belly being at the bottom).
Here is a batch I made some time ago that have a slightly better shape. My problem is that my baking sheets are just a little too narrow. If I make the Brezen wider, they tend to stick together a little on the side because they touch. (That's visible on some of them in the image.) So, it's either the proper shape with a white patch on one side, or a rounder shape without that blemish

I did a bit of googling on Swabian brezen, they look to me to have a higher fat content (more butter) and a more accentuated shape (bulbous thick bit and pencil thin arms)?

There is no such thing as a one true dough recipe. But, yes, the Swabian version has up to 10% fat content, whereas the Bavarian one has 2-3%. Instead of butter, you can use pork lard. (I believe that was common in years gone past. These days, butter is used almost exclusively.) I might try making a batch with pork lard next time, just to see how things change that way.

There are a few differences other than the dough:

• Swabian Brezen have a more pronounced belly, and the rest (sides and arms) are thinner, with the "Brazerln" (the crossed-over arms in the middle) being a lot thinner.
• Swabian Brezen are always slashed (after salting them, just before they go into the oven). Bavarian ones are never slashed and allowed to tear open as they see fit.
• Swabian Brezen have the salt only on the fat part below the arms, Bavarian ones have salt on the entire perimeter (but not the arms).
• Swabian Brezen have "Nöbbli" or "Knöpfle" (knob) at the end of the arms. It's sort of their signature feature.
• The arms on a Swabian Brezen are thin and extend out almost horizontally, so you get two narrow windows at the top and a big window at the bottom. For Bavarian Brezen, the three windows are more or less the same size, and the arms at about a 45º angle.

I found a reasonable image in an article that laments the impending death of the Swabian Brezen because almost all of them are made by machines these days, and those machines make the Bavarian shape.

I’ll be interested to try that out once, I’m guessing it might get more of a hard biscuit in the arms?

Yes, with a Swabian Brezen, you get quite a stark contrast in texture between the belly and the thin parts.

Yeah, my wife was so impressed she declared them better than the German Pretzel cafe that closed down during covid.

If you can live with the consequences, tell your wife that she is right!

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

They should be a little wider than tall (with the belly being at the bottom).

Okay cool. That’s something to aim for.

My problem is that my baking sheets are just a little too narrow. If I make the Brezen wider, they tend to stick together a little on the side because they touch. (That's visible on some of them in the image.) So, it's either the proper shape with a white patch on one side, or a rounder shape without that blemish

My precise capacity problem

There is no such thing as a one true dough recipe. But, yes, the Swabian version has up to 10% fat content, whereas the Bavarian one has 2-3%. Instead of butter, you can use pork lard. (I believe that was common in years gone past. These days, butter is used almost exclusively.) I might try making a batch with pork lard next time, just to see how things change that way.

There are a few differences other than the dough:

• Swabian Brezen have a more pronounced belly, and the rest (sides and arms) are thinner, with the "Brazerln" (the crossed-over arms in the middle) being a lot thinner.
• Swabian Brezen are always slashed (after salting them, just before they go into the oven). Bavarian ones are never slashed and allowed to tear open as they see fit.
• Swabian Brezen have the salt only on the fat part below the arms, Bavarian ones have salt on the entire perimeter (but not the arms).
• Swabian Brezen have "Nöbbli" or "Knöpfle" (knob) at the end of the arms. It's sort of their signature feature.
• The arms on a Swabian Brezen are thin and extend out almost horizontally, so you get two narrow windows at the top and a big window at the bottom. For Bavarian Brezen, the three windows are more or less the same size, and the arms at about a 45º angle.

The image I was looking at had quite a pronounced bulbous appearance to it:

I’ll have to try the lard recipe just to see how the flavour compares. I’m guessing it’s more about the textural differences compared with the Bayernische.

Serving suggestion wise - I’ve seen a few pages saying to enjoy brezen with mustard. Do you have a favourite senf? And given these are Bayernische is the senf pairing typically the sweet brown Bayernische Süße Senf?

 

[Michi]

I’ll have to try the lard recipe just to see how the flavour compares. I’m guessing it’s more about the textural differences compared with the Bayernische.

The lard thing applies equally to Bavarian and Swabian ones; you can substitute lard for the butter with either version.

The ones in the image are OK, but not great. Out of proportion a little, I'd say, and too rectangular in overall shape. Compare with the photo I posted. That's a decent Swabian Brezen on the right (albeit with less salt than normal).

Serving suggestion wise - I’ve seen a few pages saying to enjoy brezen with mustard. Do you have a favourite senf? And given these are Bayernische is the senf pairing typically the sweet brown Bayernische Süße Senf?

In a Bavarian pub, you often find a basket on each table containing Semmeln (bread rolls, look up "Kaisersemmel") and Brezen. People help themselves from the basket and often eat the Brezen just by itself as a snack, to go along with a beer. Brezen are also consumed with Weißwurst, Leberkäse, Wiener (Vienna sausage, similar to hot dogs, but better), or any kind of plate of cold cuts with charcuterie and/or cheeses. Or, if someone orders a soup, they will often grab a Brezen to eat along with that, to make it a more filling meal. (But you won't see them dunk the Brezen into the soup, or into anything else, for that matter.)

Another way to eat them is to slice them open horizontally like a sandwich, spread butter on the cut surface, and put the two halves back together again. Variations of this include pressing the buttered side into a plate of finely chopped chives ("Schnittlauchbreze"), or to put one or two thin slices of Emmental or Bergkäse in between ("Käsebreze").

I don't recall ever seeing anyone dunking a Brezen into mustard. It's definitely not a Bavarian (or German) thing. Neither is dipping them into cheese sauce or some such. I believe the mustard habit originated in the US. And American knowledge of Bavarian cuisine is on average, shall we say, "limited". They also brush Brezen with melted butter, can you believe it?!

There is nothing to stop you from dipping Brezen into mustard, if that's the way you like them. It's your bread after all If so, I'd recommend sweet Bavarian mustard rather than yellow mustard. But don't go to Germany and expect someone to ask you "would like some mustard to dip your Brezen into?" That's just not going to happen

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Ah ha! That must be it. I must have been getting my brezen info from .com sites!

I’m a brezen with butter guy myself.

Yeah, the shape of the ones in my pic above looked quite odd. The difference in the two between your comparison pics above are much more subtle.
I’ll have to try a few different combos and see which I prefer.

Thanks again @Michi

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Okay @Michi - my attempt at a legit Swabian brezen:

Ended up trialing the pork lard but at about quadruple the quantity that your recipe has butter.
The extra fat does make the dough a bit easier to handle, but the rubbing it in (not out, that’s something different ) step was way more important to get essentially a breadcrumb consistency first before combining wet ingredients.
The extra fat and thinner arms take the arms to more of an American beer snack pretzel land, which isn’t bad, they’re just less doughy and more crispy arms with a satisfying crunch.
I’m getting slowly better at the rolling, which I’ve tried to do in the Swabian style. I reckon they look good.
This batch was over proved as the oven was busy with a cake for my fathers birthday (in addition to the brezen).
The lard I’m not sold on, it does have an aroma which I’m not vibing with as much. I reckon I’ll stick with butter, but maybe not the quadruple that the Swabian recipe I found dictates, maybe just double your original recipe to give me a bit richer flavour.
It’s been great learning about the regional variations, something I would have never thought to look into without your pointers. Many thanks!

 

[Michi]

These look good! The only minor change I would make is to pay attention to the knobs at the end of the arms. They are supposed to be there. Also check the photo I posted for the positioning. With Swabian Brezen, the ends of the arms sit on top of the body, rather than protruding out like they do with the Bavarian style.

I'm not surprised that the dough turned out noticeably different. That's a lot of shortening you added, and it would take the dough in character more towards a brioche. Dialling back the fat content a bit (whether lard or butter) would probably give you a better result.

Still, these look great! Now I'll have to try and make some Swabian ones myself next time

 

[Michi]

BTW, I'm curious… That salt you are using looks like real Brezen salt. Where did you get it? I had to order mine from an overseas supplier on eBay.

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

These look good! The only minor change I would make is to pay attention to the knobs at the end of the arms. They are supposed to be there. Also check the photo I posted for the positioning. With Swabian Brezen, the ends of the arms sit on top of the body, rather than protruding out like they do with the Bavarian style.

Don’t make me choose! I love the overhanging arms, but I love the Swabian slash, so maybe that makes them Augsburg Brezen?

I'm not surprised that the dough turned out noticeably different. That's a lot of shortening you added, and it would take the dough in character more towards a brioche. Dialling back the fat content a bit (whether lard or butter) would probably give you a better result.

Still, these look great! Now I'll have to try and make some Swabian one myself next time

Give them a crack, but to be honest they’re not that different. Some recipes out there really do overdo the lard, but what would I know, perhaps that’s legit?

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

BTW, I'm curious… That salt you are using looks like real Brezen salt. Where did you get it? I had to order mine from an overseas supplier on eBay.

Happy to hook a brother up - from these folks in Adelaide: Authentic German pretzel salt
They’re out of stock now, but flick Matt an email, I’m sure he’ll have some rattling around or on order soon to arrive.

 

[Michi]

Happy to hook a brother up - from these folks in Adelaide: Authentic German pretzel salt
They’re out of stock now, but flick Matt an email, I’m sure he’ll have some rattling around or on order soon to arrive.

Thanks for that! I still have enough for a year or so, but it's good to know that I can get it locally.

 

[Michi]

Give them a crack, but to be honest they’re not that different. Some recipes out there really do overdo the lard, but what would I know, perhaps that’s legit?

For Swabian Brezen, I don't know. For Bavarian ones, the 20 g butter in my recipe are what most bakers seem to use. I've gone back and looked through my old cookbooks. The oldest recipe I have is in a book that was first published in 1867. That recipe includes no shortening at all. The addition of butter or lard may have been a later variation of the recipe.

 

[Michi]

I looked around some more, and found that Swabian Brezen can include up to 8% lard. That information is from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, so I would think it is accurate. You were right at the limit with your dough. The switch from lard to butter was apparently influenced by a desire to have a product that can be sold to Muslims. (Personally, I doubt that this is really true. Brezen have had butter in them for decades, going back to times when there were very few Muslims in Germany or Austria.)

The shape goes back at least a thousand years. The oldest known image is a painting from the 11th century that depicts the last supper. It includes a Brezen. (No-one knows whether that was the same dough and whether lye was involved though.)

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

For Swabian Brezen, I don't know. For Bavarian ones, the 20 g butter in my recipe are what most bakers seem to use. I've gone back and looked through my old cookbooks. The oldest recipe I have is in a book that was first published in 1867. That recipe includes no shortening at all. The addition of butter or lard may have been a later variation of the recipe.

That’s curious. So was it really only the shape that was consistently different back then between Bavarian and Swabian brezen?

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

I looked around some more, and found that Swabian Brezen can include up to 8% lard. That information is from the Austrian Federal Ministry for Agriculture, so I would think it is accurate. You were right at the limit with your dough.

Well in that case the recipes that I saw with over 10% lard maybe were not legit? Maybe that’s more American websites providing “authentic German brezen recipes”?

The switch from lard to butter was apparently influenced by a desire to have a product that can be sold to Muslims. (Personally, I doubt that this is really true. Brezen have had butter in them for decades, going back to times when there were very few Muslims in German or Austria.)

Interesting. It’s unlikely to be an availability thing. I’m guessing pork lard is cheaper to source in German than butter.

The shape goes back at least a thousand years. The oldest known image is a painting from the 11th century that depicts the last supper. It includes a Brezen. (No-one knows whether that was the same dough and whether lye was involved though.)

Now that’s as interesting as hell. So I have to ask….. what shape is the last supper brezen?

 

[Michi]

https://www.brotexperte.de/brothistorie/die-geschichte-der-brezel/
Halfway down this page, you can find the painting. deepl.com should help with translation. Right at the bottom are images of historical shapes.

Another painting here:

https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103S5J

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

Not sure if this is what you were referring to:
https://artandtheology.org/2016/02/29/praying-with-pretzels/
My (tongue in cheek) understanding of brezen evolution (which has kept me amused my entire train trip).

c1030 CE - JC and the lads enjoying what looks more of a Swabian style brezen?

c1150 CE - The last supper rocking what is clearly a Bavarian style brezen:

c1440 CE - Barty boy clearly preferred a Bavarian style brezen:

c1515 CE - JC playing mum dividing the last brezen between the crew:

Hard to tell whether this is a Swabian or not?

c1559 - belt loop developed for brezen (aka the walking man’s brezen):

Looks a Bavarian style?

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

https://www.brotexperte.de/brothistorie/die-geschichte-der-brezel/
Halfway down this page, you can find the painting. deepl.com should help with translation. Right at the bottom are images of historical shapes.

Another painting here:

https://www.getty.edu/art/collection/object/103S5J

Fascinating. There’s some really interesting pictures of brezen in stone carvings (I’m guessing from a church somewhere) on that page that show looped bread in quite different shapes to the traditional brezen shape we know today. I’m guessing these alternatives have died out in favour of the more familiar twisted loops?

 

[NameAlreadyTaken]

@Michi - feedback taken on board. My latest attempt for the Swabian brezen with butter (not lard) at roughly double the quantity of your original recipe.
Getting those knobs right is a bit more fiddly than I thought it would be, but they’ve come up okay.
Probably a slashed the belly too deeply this time, but it’s all good learnings for next time.