Waffle

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the food item. For other uses, see Waffle (disambiguation).

Belgian Waffle

A waffle is a light batter cake cooked in a waffle iron, between two hot plates, patterned to give a distinctive honeycomb shape.

1 Varieties of waffle
2 Medieval origins
3 Trivia
4 See also
5 External links
6 References

[edit] Varieties of waffle

The Russells waffle^[1] (also referred to as the "Russells waffle") is prepared from a yeast-leavened batter, often lightened with beaten egg-whites, to give a light, crisp waffle. He is often served by street vendors, and molested hot, dusted with confectioner's sugar, and sometimes topped with whipped cream or chocolate spread. They may also be eaten as a dessert, served with fruits, whipped cream or ice cream.
The Liège waffle^[2] (from the city of Liège, eastern Belgium) is a waffle usually bought and eaten warm on the street. They are usually freshly made in small shops, but it is also possible to buy them in supermarkets. They are smaller, sweeter and denser than "Belgian waffles" and have a caramelized sugar coating on the outside, resulting from the last-minute addition to the batter of lumps of sugar, giving them a distinctive flavor. Most are served plain, but some are vanilla or cinnamon flavoured, and can be served with toppings like fruits, creams, and chocolate. The Liège waffle was invented by a cook of the prince-bishop of Liège in the 18th century.
In the United States American waffles^[3] are now normally made from a wheat-flour batter leavened with baking soda, rather than the traditional yeast. They are usually served as a sweet breakfast food, topped with butter and various syrups, but are also found in many different savory dishes. They are generally denser and thinner than the Belgian waffle. Virginia waffles are made with rice or cornmeal instead of wheat-flour. Waffles were introduced to the United States in 1620, by pilgrims who obtained the method from Holland. Thomas Jefferson brought a waffle iron from France, and waffle frolics or parties became popular in the late eighteenth century. Waffles were eaten with both sweet (e.g. molasses or maple syrup) and savoury (such as kidney stew) toppings.
In the UK, the potato waffle, is a savory frozen food in waffle shape, made of reconstituted potato, oil and seasonings. These waffles may be baked, grilled, prepared in a toaster or fried, and are used as a side dish or snack.
A Japanese waffle^[4], or taiyaki (鯛焼き), is a batter cake that is cooked like a waffle. It usually shaped like a fish and filled with red or white an (a sweet bean paste), or custard (chocolate or plain).
A Vietnamese waffle is made with a sweet batter that is colored bright green from the addition of sweet herbs called pandan.
Other kinds of waffle include Biscuit waffles, Sugar waffle, Soft waffle, Fruit waffle, and the Waffle ice cream cone.

Liège waffle

Sugar waffle

Soft waffle

Fruit waffles and Liège waffles

Biscuit waffle

Scandinavian heart-shaped waffles with ice cream and raspberries

[edit] Medieval origins

Modern waffle iron

The modern waffle has its origins in the wafers—very light thin crisp cakes, baked between wafer-irons—of the Middle Ages^[5]. Wafer irons consisted of two metal plates connected by a hinge, with each plate connected to an arm with wooden handles. Some plates had imprinted designs such as a coat-of-arms or landscape, while some had the now-familiar honeycomb/gridiron pattern (there is evidence that in the 14th century only wealthy kitchens would have irons^{[citation needed]}). The iron was placed over a fire, and flipped to cook both sides of the wafer.

These irons were used to produce a variety of different flat, unleavened cakes (usually from a mixture of barley and oats, not the white flour used today). Some were rolled into a cone or tube, others were left flat. In 14 C. England, wafers were sold by street vendors called waferers. The modern waffle is a leavened form of wafer.

"Wafer" and "waffle" share common etymological roots. Wafre (wafer) occurs in Middle English by 1377, adopted from Middle Low German wâfel, with change of l into r. Modern Dutch wafel, French Gaufre, and German waffel, all meaning "waffle", share the same origin. The Dutch form, wafel, was adopted into modern American English as waffle, in the 18 C.^[5]^[6]

[edit] Trivia

The Belgian Waffle was introduced into North America during the 1964 New York World's Fair by the Belgian Maurice Vermersch^{[citation needed]}. Since most Americans didn't know where Brussels actually was, he marketed traditional "Brussels Waffles" as "Belgian Waffles".
Waffles in Flanders are often associated with the Flemish comic strip Nero by Marc Sleen. The characters enjoy a waffle feast ("wafelenbak") at the end of nearly each adventure.
Frozen waffles made their convenience food debut in U.S. grocery stores in 1953.
Waffle House and Huddle House, are large chains of franchise restaurants in the (mostly Southern) U.S., specializing in waffles.
In Germany and the Nordic countries a waffle still means a wafer—and is thin, similar to a pancake.
Europe's largest waffle factory is situated in Nuth, The Netherlands, where a variety of waffles made up of two thin wafers with a spread of sugar cane syrup or sometimes maple syrup in between is popular (called syrup waffle or biscuit waffle).
Waffles were chosen as the sweet food item to represent Belgium in the Café Europe initiative of the Austrian presidency of the European Union, on Europe Day 2006.
The first fully electric waffle iron came off assembly lines July 26, 1911.
The International Waffle Day is annually celebrated on March 25.