History
The origins of the Philadelphia soft pretzel can be traced back to a strong Germanic influence during the early history of Pennsylvania. During the 1700’s, a large proportion of Pennsylvania's population spoke German - in fact German almost became the official language! The "Pennsylvania Dutch" still speak an old German dialect, and many places in southeastern Pennsylvania bear German name.. like Germantown. Somewhere along with the language came a tradition of pretzel making.
Every year, Philadelphians consume twelve times the national average in pretzels. This isn’t due to the fact that Philadelphia has consistently ranked in the top tier of overweight cities, but much more simply the reality is that the quality of pretzels that the rest of the world has to offer doesn't even remotely compare to ours. Philadelphia soft pretzels tend to resemble the number eight and are tan in color. They don't really resemble frozen, store-bought soft pretzels in any way, shape or form, and taste a hell of a lot better than the pretzels you get hanging under a heat lamp at sporting events. To find the real South Philly soft pretzels, you don't have to look very far when you’re in the city.
Our vendor in the Italian Market section in the heart of South Philly starts baking each night around midnight. The oven runs non-stop spilling out soft pretzels bunched together in groups of 10 until thousands of pretzels have left the building. By daybreak the vendors have already picked up their share and are at their locations throughout the city ready to meet the morning rush. Just about every street corner in town has a vendor selling them in brown lunch bags. They are coated with just the right amount of salt and come broken off in singles or sets of five stuck together. In Philly, the only variable in eating pretzels is the type of mustard used. It's typically either regular yellow mustard or spicy mustard, whatever the vendor has to offer. The pretzel is so celebrated in Philadelphia that it ranks third after cheese steaks and the Liberty Bell as top "things to do" while you’re here. Now through Pretzels Direct.com we can save you a trip and you can have one of a kind fresh South Philly Soft Pretzels wherever you are in the country.