A History of Waffles - Communion Wafers to Eggo

What is your favorite topping on a waffle? Lately I've been a banana with boysenberry syrup fan.

I knew the upload was coming, so I tried summoning Max by chanting "Hard tack" to myself.

Max: “1 TSP of Grated Nutmeg.” Townsends: “I have been summoned!”

Oooooh boy I've been waiting for this one! As a Belgian, let me tell you we have not two but THREE types of waffles! We have the "gaufre de Bruxelles", the Brussels waffle, for which you fill the iron, and it's airy and light. Then we have the "gaufre de Liège", or Liège waffle (Liège being another Belgian city), for which the batter is usually a bit thicker and you don't fill the iron in order to get a rounder shape. We usually don't use sugar pearls in the Brussels waffle, but we do use if often in Liège waffles. You'd eat Brussels waffles with topping, my favorite is raspberry and redcurrant jam, and the Liège waffles bare since they already have the pearl sugar. But in the countryside in the south, we also make what we call galettes. It's similar to Liège waffles, but it's even thicker, and we use potatoes in the dough. Galette day was a whole ordeal at my grandparents' house, they'd make the dough in a big laundry basket yes you read that right the day before and would let it rest overnight, then on cooking day, my grandparents would be at it from 7am until the evening, using two waffle irons. Each had their role and they had a whole system. My grandma would grease the iron with a paintbrush, my grandpa would scoop in some dough, they'd close it, flip the iron, and take care of the other machine. By the end of the day, there would be stacks of waffles all over the kitchen. They made two types of galettes, most of them were made with sugar pearls like the Liège waffles, but a few very precious ones would be made with bacon. You read that right, bacon waffles! My grandma would put a strip down on the iron before adding the dough. Some even more rare were the double bacon ones, a strip both under and on top of the dough before closing the iron. The reason they were so rare is that they were more difficult and annoying to make than the sugar pearls ones. They were made only for my mom and it was the greatest of honors when she gave one or two to someone else, because there weren't many to begin with and she didn't like to share those. I only know one person outside of the family who ever got one of her bacon waffles. My grandparents would start with the bacon waffles to pre-grease the irons, then they would mix in the sugar pearls in the dough to get started on the sugar ones. They don't make them as often now because they're really old, but it's still very special when we get to have a galette fresh off the iron.

This waffle episode reminded me of pancakes, and of my maternal grandfather who was a camp cook in lumber camps, fishing camps, and construction camps around southern British Columbia from the1930s to 1960s. He lived with us after he had a stroke and was no longer able to go out and work. He cooked a lot of 'camp food' for us-- thick pea soup, baked beans, potato casseroles etc. But our favourite meal was pancakes and gravy. His pancakes were a bit yeasty-- not just baking soda and powder like our mom made. And he would serve them with vegetables-- fried greens usually-- and a very hearty gravy made from the last few days meats. We loved his cooking, and the stories that went with them. He lived with us from the time I was about six, until he died when I was 12. The cook in these camps was the most important person in recruiting workers in many years. Men would be 'in camp' for two to six weeks and had little to look forward to besides food while they were there. I think it would be interesting to explore the history of work-camp cookery. Their tools were basic but often self-invented. And the food was not just Wasp! So many of the workers came from other parts of the world that the 'Cookies' used yoghurt, paprika, buckwheat and other ingredients long before the city residents. Love your show and all the history behind the recipes. 👍❤️🥞

My grandmother-in-law was from an entirely different culture, so when we visited, she'd make pizzelles. I'd never had them before, and LOVED them. So the next Christmas, I asked if she'd bake me a batch of pizzelles and ship them to me. Nope! She bought a pizzelle baker, included her recipe, and told me "learn to make them yourself." I did! And I still make several batches around the holidays for neighbors and workers (police, mail persons, trash collectors, etc).

Wine on waffles? Why has nobody informed me of this before! I've got flour, eggs, a waffle iron... Vodka. Close enough.

As a child preparing for my first Communion, I watched a Maltese Nun prepare Communion Wafers. A specialised electric wafer iron was used, apparently with a starch slurry. The small, white, round hosts popped easily out of the cooked sheet. The class tasted the scraps, and it was a fascinating excursion for small people. Nowadays our local parishes order the Communion wafers in boxes.

You remind me so much of my brother, Will. Your mannerisms, so much of the way you look, so many of the faces you make...my brother died of cancer 3 years ago at the age of 32. I love your channel for the content but I can't help but love it even more because you remind me of him. I'm sure you're nothing alike in reality. But it's so nice to see my brother in your face and eyes even though he's not here. Thanks for your videos and hard work. I appreciate all you do on this channel. You can't do much about looking like a perfect stranger, but thanks for that, too. ❤️😭❤️

That delivery of, "I'm making waffles!" is one of my favorite line readings of all time.

When my sister-in-law got married they did a waffle bar for the reception instead of the little cups of mints and nuts, and slices of cake everyone else was doing. We had like 8 waffle irons going and bottles of chocolate sauce, homemade caramel sauce, homemade syrups, ground nuts, chocolate chips, sprinkles, cans of whipped cream ... it was crazy!!! And EVERYONE loved it! There were guests arriving, walking the reception line, making their plate of waffles, sitting and talking while they ate, for hours! And everyone felt like family.

I love this channel, I have learned so much about food and history. I'm 62 and I still love to learn about everything and this guy makes it so much fun. I would love to give him a big hug 🤗. Take care and see you next time.

Years ago as a young father of a young family, I was diagnosed with severe food allergies...my food became incredibly expensive. So, I did a lot of research and calculations on how to feed myself adequately in the morning for the least cost possible. After much work, the math proved a homemade waffle each morning would be cheapest, even cheaper than regular food. I have been eating homemade gluten free waffles each morning for over 10 years. Thank you for going over the history of waffles. Best breakfast a celiac could wish for.

"I like waffles. Waffles are like pancakes with syrup traps. A waffle says to the syrup, “Hold on now. You ain’t going anywhere. Don’t even be trying to creep down the side. Just rest in these squares. If one square is full, move on to the next one. When you hear the butter, split up.” 🧇 -Mitch Hedberg

I need to break out my mom's 1955 electric waffle iron and whip up a batch of waffles! As a kid, the object of dressing our waffles involved filling EVERY divot with butter and then syrup. My favorite syrup was Knott's Berry Farm Boysenberry! 😋

I also love "Le Ménagier de Paris"! I get a kick out of thinking about how this busy (lawyer?) could have picked up all that household knowledge. My sister and refer to him as the Lady Catherine de Bourgh of medieval France.

Fun fact, in Dutch we still use the same word for flower and flour (bloem).

I actually found a cast iron waffle iron in my grandparents' attic last summer. Completely covered in rust, but once I got it cleaned it made some really nice waffles.

I used to work for a small Franciscan University, and we found the old communion wafer iron that they used in the earliest days of the university. It was really cool.

I'm delighted that you mentioned Våffeldagen and its (possible) linguistic origin. "Vår Fru" means "Our Lady", a common term for the virgin Mary as seen in the Notre Dame church. I can't help but think that us Swedes will come up with any excuse to devote a holiday to a pastry of some sort.