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Origin of
Waffles
The ancestor of the
waffle was nothing more than a rustic cake made of cereal’s
pulps, prepared and cooked by the men of the Neolithic on heated
stones. Once the face of the cake in contact with the stones was
gilded, they turned it over to let the other face cooking. Once
somebody had the idea to replace the stone by an iron plate, the
pancake was born. Once somebody found that the cooking would go
quicker with 2 heated iron plates at both sides at the same
time, it was the beginning of the waffle. It was a long time ago
and the word “waffle” didn’t exist yet.
The word “gaufre”
(waffle in English) is coming from the “walfre” at
the twelve century. In old French, "wafel" meant
at that time “piece of honey (bee-) hive”. It was
a bakery with light pasta cooked between two heat irons which
printed a drawing in relief.
These cakes came through
the centuries till the Middle Ages. We found these cakes back in
the thirteen century under the name of “oublies”
or “Pan d’juif” (Jew’s bread).
It’s only in the
thirteen century that the waffles appeared when one black-smith
imagined producing an iron which looked like the drawings of the
alveoli made by the bees. The name of the bakery obtained
received the name of “waffle”.
The waffles were sold to
the people in the streets. For religious celebrations or saint’s
days, the waffles vendors (after paying an honest remuneration
to the clergy), were allowed to sell their waffles at the exits
of the churches. Year after years, they came more and more in
large numbers, they were a lot of fights and troubles between
vendors, and finally the King Charles IX (King of France between
1560 and 1574) decided to regulate this lucrative business. The
vendors had to stay at 2 “toises” (+/- 6 ft.) from each other …
At the sixteen century,
the waffles were not only a delicacy. They were eaten when they
were a shortage of breads. The raw materials were mainly water
and bad flour. From the eighteen century, the bad flour was
replaced by mashed potatoes. These waffles for the common people
were thick and on the contrary, the waffles for the upper middle
class were thin and above all more delicate because eggs,
milk, honey … were added.
Today in Belgium, you
can find waffles, all the year long, at bakeries, at big chain
stores … The waffles are inseparables from the children world
and from the time of the parties. The waffles are one of the
oldest desserts.
Different
kinds of waffles
Since the thirteen
century, it remains actually types of waffles in their dozens.
The most famous are the following: the thick waffles (The
Liege’s waffles) , the thin waffles (The Brussels’s waffles),
the soft waffles, the waffles made of puff pastry, the hunting
waffles, the seasonal filled waffles with fresh fruits
(cherries, prunes, apples, blueberries, apricots), etc.
The waffle is a Belgian
culinary specialty. Each part of the country has its own recipe,
even if the main ingredients (flour, milk, sugar and eggs) are
the same. The recipes are handed over from one generation to the
following one.
The Liege’s waffles =
SWEET SUGAR SNACKS with smelted pearl sugar caramelized which
can be eaten lukewarm all the day long, without or with
toppings. They are smaller, sweeter and heavier (more filling)
than the Brussels’s waffles. You might also find cold Liege’s
waffles wrapped in plastic foil in shops, big chain stores,
general stores, etc. They are not as tasty as the warm Liege’s
waffles.
The Brussels’s waffles
are big, rectangular (circular in the US) and very light. They
are always eaten warm with toppings. They are the famous Belgian
waffles imported in the USA in the sixties. The name of Belgian
waffles is probably coming from Americans who had eaten
Brussels’s waffles in the capital of Europe.
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