Baker's Sign Pretzels

"The traditional sign of the baker in Germany and Austria is a pretzel (pretsel in German): bakeries all hang a large pretzel sign over the shop door (see The Baker's Wife, page 154). Pretzels are an old form of bread, a length of leavened dough shaped into a twist or a round, and dropped into a hot water bath before baking. (Bagels are a specialized form of pretzel). All pretzels, even the dried packaged ones, have a distinctive back taste when you chew them that comes from baking soda in the water bath. This yeasted pretzel is enriched with milk and butter and sweetened with a little malt syrup. The dough does a quick first rise before being shaped, bathed and baked. Shaping is simple: You hold a long string of dough in two hands to make a loop, then twist several times, lay the loop down, and trail the ends up onto it...."