Different from the fluffy and sweet flavor of ordinary bread, under the hard appearance, it has a baked alkaline aroma, sugar-free and low-oil, and the taste is solid, and the more you chew, the more flavorful it is…… That’s right, it’s the protagonist of the day – lye bread. You must be curious, crooked, hard and hard to bite, what is the magic of a mouthful of lye bread that can win people’s hearts?
Lye bread was born in Germany and has a long history, and is a traditional and very representative bread in Germany. The more common names in China are Bavarian lye bread, beer bread, beer knot, German lye bread and so on.
In terms of type, lye bread is a type of hard bread. The taste is hard, tight and chewy, and the salty and fragrant taste of the special alkaline water surface makes the people who love love to death, and those who don’t like to eat will be rejected for thousands of miles. The raw materials of lye bread are only simple basic ingredients such as water, flour, salt, etc., and no other auxiliary ingredients are added, so it can be said that it is the most simple and healthy bread.
The dough with a very low water content is arranged into a “prayer” shape with staggered arms, and then immersed in a high concentration of edible alkaline water, and the high pH value makes it produce a huge Maillard reaction when baked, and finally forms a smoky, tough, burnt, and fragrant taste.
Legend has it that Pretzel, the German lye bread, originated in the Middle Ages, a baker was punished by the king for his crimes, and because his bread was so good in the past, he was allowed to make up for it: to make a bread, crispy and soft, and to be able to see three rays of sunshine, then he will be free.
The baker turned to his fellow bakers, and one of his friends crossed his arms in a meditative look that inspired him to create, the thin part of the lye bread represents the arms crossed, the crunchy part represents the head after baking, the thick part represents the head, and the cross part has three hollows where you can see three rays of sunlight.
He hurried to make it overnight, and when he was about to bake it, he slipped and fell, and the bread was scattered all over the ground, and because of the time he was too short to make it, he picked up the bread from the water stains on the ground and baked it, and the baked bread was brown and shiny, which was very tempting, and the king was happy after tasting it, and the baker was pardoned.
There is also a theory that around 610 A.D., a pious monk made a prayer with his arms crossed from the leftover dough, baked some small breads, and gave them to those who prayed earnestly as a small reward, and he named the bread pretiloe, which means “reward” in Latin; Eventually, the monk created the shape of the German lye loaf Pretzel.
Most importantly, Pretzel is the best partner for beer, it can neutralize the acidity of beer, effectively regulate the body’s acid-base balance, and play a good role in protecting the stomach.
Mistakes make classics, danger and deliciousness coexist. This is where the magic and fun of lye bread comes in. Today, you can find lye bakeries that have been in business for hundreds of years on the streets of Germany. The lye bread has also become a national treasure of Germany.
