FoodWorks-International®
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FoodWorks-International® |
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Pretzel Trivia
• Julius Sturgis packed his hard pretzels in wooden barrels and set out on daily routes with three horses and wagon teams. Each route was a day's driving distance from the bakery, and despite many obstacles, Sturgis and his drivers delivered 3000 pretzels to the store merchants and hotel owners.
• As with most families in Sturgis’ day, Christmas was a particularly happy time, but money was scarce. So they decorated the tree with soft pretzels baked special from cookie dough and sprinkled with colored sugar. The children counted the days until the tree was dismantled so they could eat the treats. Today, the Tshudy Family carries on the tradition of the pretzel ornaments. Learn how to make them on the teacher's page
• Pretzels without salt are called baldies.
• An average pretzel has no fat and only 110 calories per ounce.
• It's believed that the fastest twister can make 40 pretzels in a minute. Now that's some twisting!
• Sponging refers to the process where the dough mixture rises and overflows its containers.
• A doughbreak is a manual device for kneading pretzel dough into a velvety, smooth texture. Although electric mixers are used today, the Sturgis bakers sometimes use the “old way” when there's a breakdown.
• Back in the days of Julius Sturgis, twisters, or pretzel makers, earned two cents for each 100 pretzels twisted. They worked six days, fourteen hours a day.
• A “peel” is a long-handled wooden spatula that allows the baker to put the pretzels into the oven. A modern-day peel can be found at your favorite pizza restaurant.
• European culture makes the mid-Atlantic states the nation's Pretzel Belt. Per-capita pretzel consumption in these states is 4 pounds a year, twice the U.S. average.
• Pretzels are the third most preferred salty snack food in America – after potato chips and tortilla chips, respectively.
