FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

The Pretzel: A Religious Symbol?

That food is of a sacred nature goes without saying. Fresh produce from the garden fits in that category for me, but foods with a history can expand our appreciation both of cuisine and human ingenuity. What food is especially associated with prayer and almsgiving, has been used to help teach religion, saved a city from destruction, was a symbol of good fortune in medieval times, serious sustenance during the Great Depression, and is now mostly enjoyed at sporting events and parties?

If you said “the pretzel,” good for you. This humble food comes in a variety of shapes, flavors, and with coatings that would have amazed the humble monk who invented the pretzel sometime between the fifth and seventh centuries. Idling with leftover strips of dough, the monk-baker supposedly twisted and turned them until they resembled a person’s arms crossed in prayer, traditional posture for prayer in those days. The brother monks approved the tidbits, and began using them as rewards for the children under their tutelage.

The monks used the inter-connected sections of the “pretiola” (literally, “little prayers”) to help the children understand the Christian Trinity of “Father, Son and Holy Ghost.” Their success with the re-shaped crusts spread to monasteries far and wide, and soon the pretzel became an important symbol in church life. A page from the prayer book of Catherine of Cleves depicts St. Bartholomew surrounded by pretzels, which were thought to bring good fortune, prosperity and spiritual wholeness to those who ate them.

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