The Great Pretzel Taste Test Of ‘07

An Eater’s Field Guide to Pretzels [Slate]


Even this classic pretzel form has qualitative differences. Traditionally, the woven pattern was done by hand-twisting. You can still find some hand-twisted pretzels today, from companies like Martin’s (Akron, Pa., and famously sold in NYC Greenmarkets), Uncle Henry’s (Bowmansville, Pa.), Happy Herbert’s Penn Dutch (the company’s in Jersey, but the pretzels are made in Lancaster County, Pa.), and Hammond (Lancaster, Pa.). And it’s this method that generates the best pretzels—the slight variation in thickness throughout the pretzel offers toasty, brown nubbins in one place and thicker, crispier curves in others. In hand-twisted pretzels, form becomes flavor. Depending on your geography, you might never see these pretzels in your supermarket, but each brand is fully equipped to send you, as they did me, pounds of pretzels wrapped in cellophane or sealed in a decorative tin.

An Eater’s Field Guide to Pretzels [Slate]

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The Great Pretzel Taste Test Of ‘07