Actually, as far as I know, the name pumpernickel comes from the name of Napoleon's horse. Napoleon's officers were never fond of eating the heavy German rye breads when they campaigned in Germany - they preferred the wheat breads of France. One day they were complaining again about "that horrible bread" at dinner in a German inn when they saw Napoleon slip a few slices into his uniform. Confused, they asked: "Mon empereur, why do you take this awful bread with you?" Napoleon smiled and said: "Pain pour Nicole" - bread for Nicole, his horse. This greatly amused the table, and from then on, at dinner they would always say things like: "Passe-moi le pain pour Nicole" - pass the bread for Nicole. The Germans did not understand the joke, but since high culture was synonymous with French, they tried to copy the word: pain pour Nicole turned into Pumpernickel (pronounced poompernickel in German). As Dante said: Si non e vero, e ben trovato. If it is not true, it's been well invented.

• Reply