Covrigi are Romanian baked goods similar to

pretzels A pretzel (), from German pronunciation, standard german: Breze(l) ( and French / Alsatian: ''Bretzel'') is a type of baked bread made from dough that is commonly shaped into a knot. The traditional pretzel shape is a distinctive symmetrical ...

. They consist of salted

bread Bread is a staple food prepared from a dough of flour (usually wheat) and water, usually by baking. Throughout recorded history and around the world, it has been an important part of many cultures' diet. It is one of the oldest human-made f ...

topped with

poppy seed Poppy seed is an oilseed obtained from the opium poppy (''Papaver somniferum''). The tiny, kidney-shaped seeds have been harvested from dried seed pods by various civilizations for thousands of years. It is still widely used in many countries, ...

sesame seed Sesame ( or ; ''Sesamum indicum'') is a flowering plant in the genus ''Sesamum'', also called benne. Numerous wild relatives occur in Africa and a smaller number in India. It is widely naturalized in tropical regions around the world and is cu ...

s or large salt grains. They do not usually contain any added sweeteners such as sugar. Covrigi is the plural form of the

Romanian Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

word covrig. The word is a loanword from Bulgarian ''kovrig''. Cognate words are found in other Slavic languages, e.g.

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

''kovriga'' (коврига) meaning "round bread" or ''

korovai The korovai ( uk, коровай, russian: коровай before the 1956 reform), karavai (modern russian: каравай, be, каравай, orv, караваи), or kravai ( bg, кравай) is a traditional Bulgarian, Ukrainian, ...

''. The

Old East Slavic Old East Slavic (traditionally also Old Russian; be, старажытнаруская мова; russian: древнерусский язык; uk, давньоруська мова) was a language used during the 9th–15th centuries by East ...

''kovriga'' is mentioned in the

Primary Chronicle The ''Tale of Bygone Years'' ( orv, Повѣсть времѧньныхъ лѣтъ, translit=Pověstĭ vremęnĭnyxŭ lětŭ; ; ; ; ), often known in English as the ''Rus' Primary Chronicle'', the ''Russian Primary Chronicle'', or simply the ...

under year 1074. Its ultimate etymological origin is uncertain. Covrigi are a popular snack food in urban areas of Romania and also as a holiday gift in rural areas. The city of

Buzău The city of Buzău (formerly spelled ''Buzeu'' or ''Buzĕu''; ) is the county seat of Buzău County, Romania, in the historical region of Muntenia. It lies near the right bank of the Buzău River, between the south-eastern curvature of the Car ...

is known in Romania for its covrigi. Although legend has it that covrigi were introduced by Greek merchants to

in the 19th century to increase consumption of their wine, their similarity to German pretzels and to

sfințișori Sfințișori (''Little saints'') or mucenici moldovenești (''Moldavian martyrs''), are traditional pastries from Romania and Moldova made to commemorate on March 9 (or March 22, as per Julian calendar), the Christian feast of the 40 Martyrs of Se ...

, another Romanian pastry, suggest a much earlier origin.

Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Covrigi Romanian breads Pretzels Street food ro:Covrig

See also

Notes and references