NATIONAL WAFFLE DAY

 

NATIONAL WAFFLE DAY

National Waffle Day on August 24 commemorates the anniversary of the first waffle iron patent issued. Celebrate by savoring your favorite kind of waffle!On August 24, 1869, Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York received his patent for the waffle iron. While waffles existed long before then, the invention made waffles more readily available.Eaten throughout the world, a waffle is a leavened batter or dough. When cooked between two patterned plates, the dough bakes in the waffle's characteristic uniform impressed surface. Waffles also come in many forms. Depending on the type of batter or iron used, the resulting waffle varies by consistency, size, shape, and flavor.Waffle irons and waffles originated around the 14th century.  An anonymous husband penned the first known waffle recipe as a set of instructions for his wife.  According to the manuscript, Le Ménagier de Paris, each of the four recipes began:Beat some eggs in a bowl, season with salt and add wine. Toss in some flour, and mix. Then fill, little by little, two irons at a time with as much of the paste as a slice of cheese is large. Then close the iron and cook both sides. If the dough does not detach easily from the iron, coat it first with a piece of cloth that has been soaked in oil or grease.

Ancient Greece offered the predecessor to waffles by roasting flat cakes between two hot metal plates that were attached to long wooden handles and placed in the oven or over a fire.By the 15th century, the Dutch in Holland were forming rectangular plates with grid patterns that were used to make waffles. The grid pattern was likely created for practical purposes, as it allowed the batter to cook more quickly and evenly than a flat cake might.

At the time, waffles were likely less sweet than they are today, as sugar was in limited supply, though they may have been sweetened with honey. It was probably the Dutch influence that brought the idea of the waffle to the New World in the early 1600s.The word “waffle” is believed to have Dutch (wafel), French (walfre) and Frankish (wafla) linguistic influences. The word first appeared in print in English in a cookbook in the early 18th century.

Even after crossing the ocean, waffles remained popular in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. Eventually, in the 19th century, waffles changed from street vendor food in Paris to a food that was predominantly made at home. The introduction of GE’s electric waffle maker in 1918 made it even easier for families to make waffles in their own kitchens at home.National Waffle Day is celebrated in the United States as a nod to the day of a US patent for a waffle iron. In 1869, a US patent for a modern, stovetop version of a grid waffle maker was earned by Cornelious Swartwout from New York. That happened on August 24, which is why National Waffle Day is celebrated on this day in the US each year.

While it’s not yet a major holiday that is sanctioned by the government, National Waffle Day continues to grow in popularity as people with deep affection for waffles have a chance to celebrate and show appreciation for them!

Prof. John Kurakar