These Sweet-Heat Pretzels Are Spicing Up the Snack Scene

You could say that the food service industry is in Carolyn Talucci’s blood. Her grandparents, Charles and Edith Harrington, owned Harrington’s Market in Ruxton before it was purchased by the Graul family in the early ’70s. So, it was only a matter of time before the former international recruiter, who worked at Harrington’s in high school, turned once again to food.

Talucci, above right, has run a catering business for 22 years now, but her most recent side hustle, along with her daughter, Downey Dupont, above left, has been selling pretzels inspired by a bar snack that Edith invented.

The pretzels, branded Carey’s Fine Foods (and available at The French Paradox in Stevenson, Eddie’s in Roland Park, and Graul’s Market in Ruxton and Mays Chapel), have become something of a trademark for her catering company of the same name. And while the recipe is proprietary, it’s fair to say after taste-testing that the flavor profile combines sweet and heat.

“My grandmother made this bar snack that was spicy and hot,” says Talucci. “And this is a derivation of that beloved snack.”

How did you come to sell Carey’s Pretzels?
Twenty-two years ago, we started making these as bar snacks, but we never thought about bagging and marketing them. And then one day when we were at our house at Dewey Beach, our next-door neighbor who is a patent attorney said, “These pretzels are the bomb. You should patent them.” That got us thinking and we started the process, but had to shelve it due to the pandemic.

The pretzels aren’t whole but broken bits. Why did you decide to make them that way as opposed to selling whole pretzels?
They are just meant to be a small snack. Ironically, the way we break them was by accident. We get the whole pretzels in a huge tub. It used to be time-consuming to break them up by hand. But one day I had a temper tantrum. I was so angry with everyone, and I threw a barrel across the kitchen, and they broke—everyone was like, “This is genius.” So now we drop the barrel three times a certain way on the floor, and they break up easily.

I hear these pretzels have had at least 15 minutes of fame.
When we were trying to get these off the ground, I’d ask my friends and family, “Does anyone know Oprah?” One lady said, “No, but my friend’s husband is a cameraman on Today.” We got lucky. They were featured in a segment on June 28, 2021—and that was huge.

What’s on the pretzels?
They are soaked in bourbon and other spices. There’s also cayenne pepper in them. They are completely addictive.

Any funny fan stories?
A lady in Roland Park told me that every time she and her husband went to one of the parties I’d catered, her husband would go over to the bar, and he would dump all the pretzels into his pockets. And then she’d do the laundry and forget they were in there and, “I’d have pretzel pieces floating in my laundry.”