The birth of the pretzel is said to be more than 1,400 years ago when Italian monks would twist strips of dough together and bake them. As time went on, the traditional knot as we know nowadays was created to look like crossed arms laid across your chest. This was an early form of praying. They would give these little snacks to children as a reward for learning their prayers. The monks called them "pretiola" which means "little prayers."
The center knot would later represent the union of marriage while the three compartments were used to explain the mystery of the holy trinity. During hard times, people would line up and the monks would hand them out to feed the poor. As Christianity expanded across Europe—so did the pretzel.
Pretzels became a symbol of the church and it wasn't long before they were used in weddings. Couples would break them during the ceremony like you would a wishbone, believing good luck would come to them. In modern times, that good luck spread to sporting events as the pretzel became larger and more diverse in shapes, sizes and flavor.
Tonight, we're celebrating this glorious holiday at River City's Beerhouse. We'll be offering a Bottomless Pretzel Bar for $8 from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. Giant pretzels, sweet cream cheese-stuffed pretzels, pretzel sticks, jalapeno stuffed pretzels and lots of sauces for dipping!
