4,415
edits
Changes
A Bavarian pretzel is shaped like a knot with three holes and it's steeped in lye prior to baking. A Cracovian ''obwarzanek'' has the form of a wreath braided from two strands of dough and it's boiled in water with a little honey before baking. An American bagel is also parboiled, but it looks like a plump roll with a hole small enough to allow making bagels sandwiches.
There! We've finally got a simple guideline to tell these three bread products apart. A And now… we may forget about it. I've just visited a stand in Masuria (former East Prussia) with strings of pretzels and ''obwarzanki'', and you know what? They all had the exact same shape! It turns out that in Masuria, the difference between pretzels and ''obwarzanki'' is that the former have eggs added to the dough and they're baked without bathing them in water first.
So, what's the holey-bread-related terminology where you come from? Please let me know in the comments. But for now, let's leave the doomed effort to classify holey breads aside and let's make ourselves something to eat!