Brunch is beautiful

So, last Sunday was mother's day. And as such, we packed up a few trusty kitchen staples and headed over to mom's to make her breakfast. On the menu, apple barley waffles and homemade hashbrowns.

The deliciousness that is the waffle got me to thinking.... just how long has the waffle been about? Its been a known breakfast staple for as far back as I can think of, but it turns out, that almost every human in history has enjoyed a waffle (or its ancestor, the griddle cake).

It all started back just a few years ago during the neolithic age... sometime between 6000 and 2000 BCE. Here there is evidence of griddle cake beginnings when flat cakes are cooked on hot stones. These cakes are made out of the pulp of cereal grains.

As history strolls into the iron age, we start to see iron tools for cooking as well as hunting. So, sometime between 1200 and 500 BCE, iron plates or griddles contribute to the cooking process of pancakes. AND THEN! a genius comes into the picture and realizes that if you have TWO heated plates (one for the bottom and one for the top), the cooking process is shortened.

As always, the ancient Greeks come into the picture, and just make things better: they serve "oubleios" which is a griddle cake that is cooked between two hot metal plates. This is usually a savory dish. This dish starts to evolve during the middle ages (400-1000CE) as they are served either flat with toppings, or rolled into coronets and filled. Still, the batter is made with the most common cereal grains (at the time, barley and oats).

It isn't until the 13th century that the oublie becomes the waffle as the irons that cook them are forged to reproduce a honeycomb pattern. Also around this time, the Old French word Gaufre (translated to english as "wafla") appears in print for the first time. These words translate to mean, "Piece of honeybee hive." Waffles begin to be sold by street vendors. There is continued fighting over vending locations (particularly on religious holidays when EVERYONE wants to sell immediately outside places of worship) The constants squabbles over vending locations prompt King Charles IX (of France) to regulate the industry: vendors must stay 6 feet away from each other.

At this point in time, the evolution and popularity of the waffle is noticed by pretty specific dates. In 1620, Dutch waffles come to America with the Pilgrims.

The English word, "Waffle," appears in print for the first time in 1735.

In 1789, Jefferson brought the waffle iron back from France when he returns to America from his Ambassadorship. This occasion brings the waffle to the height of society and the upper class begins holding,"Waffle frolics." These are parties where the guests can have waffles served either sweet or savory. Sweet waffles are topped with either molasses or maple syrup. Savory waffles are topped with a liver stew. The hosts slaves are given the leftovers. According to one website, these leftover savory waffles are the begining of the Southern tradition of "chicken and Waffles."

In the 1800's, street vendors begin to sell sweetly topped waffles and in 1869, Cornelius Swarthart patents the 1st waffle iron. To this day, the anniversary is celebrated with "national waffle day."

General Electric produces the first electric waffle iron patented by Thomas J Stackbeck. This model includes a thermostat that keeps the unit from getting too hot and burning the waffle. You may be thinking that such a model sounds exactly like the one in your kitchen cabinet: it it. The main difference between waffle irons 100 years later is the plastic "keep cool" outer coating and sometimes you can find "designer" waffle irons with different patterns on the griddle surface or a character on the outer coating. (Ours is the grinch on the outside with a swirly pattern on the inside. It was $3 at the thrift store)

The Wells Restaurant in Harlem serves starts serving chicken and waffles to their late night dining crowd in 1938. To this day, they claim to be the "home of chicken and waffles" and state that the combination evolved from late night diners coming from the clubs and being unable to decide whether they wanted breakfast or dinner.

All this history and you are probably left wondering, but what about eggos? If you want to discuss a significant portion of waffle life in the 20th century, you have to bring up Eggo. Eggos were first produced by the Dorsa brothers in 1953. They were known as "froffles" (for Frozen waffles) until 1955 when buyer feedback indicated that many people were referring to them as Eggos because of their "eggy" taste. The kellogg company bought the product in 1970.

At the 1964 World's fair in New York, Belgium waffles are introduced. The difference of a belgium waffle is the use of yeast as the leavening (as opposed to baking powder or baking soda). The creator was going to call them Brussels waffles but realized the average person did not know where Brussels was.

So we made apple barley waffles last sunday. The idea came from a variety of sources including a bit of early morning confusion in trying to assemble the recipe. #1: a webpage we bookmarked a few weeks ago included a recipe for pumpkin barley waffes. YUM! Upon looking at this recipe to make them for my mom, I realized this was a Belgium waffle recipe with yeast. Seeing as how I was already running late, I knew a yeast based recipe (and the time needed to rise) was not an option. So I googled, "Pumpkin barley waffles" and came up with another recipe for them using baking soda and baking powder. I assmebled the dry ingredients (including lots of cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice) and stopped by the store for canned pumpkin. At my local grocer, I learned to my dismay, that canned pumkin is a seasonal ingredient (blasphemy considering they carry cranberry sauce year round).

So there I was, in the grocery store, with cinnamon pumkin pie spiced waffle mix and no pumpkin. It was at that second, that I decided that apple would be equally delicious. There is a pancake house in San Diego that serves delicious apple waffles, so with that as my hope: I grabbed a can of cooked sliced apples (not apple pie filling) and headed to check out.

Here is the recipe that we made that day:

Apple Waffles: Yield 10-12 waffles
1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup barley flour
2 1/4 tsp baking bowder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp  pumpkin pie spice
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Whisk all these ingredients together, set aside.

1/3 cup packed brown sugar
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1 cup canned apples, minced plus 2 tbsp of the canning liquid
6 tbsp butter, melted
Whisk all of these ingredients together. Add to dry ingredients and stir JUST TO COMBINE. Let sit ten minutes.

Cook in hot waffle iron sprayed with nonstick cooking spray every 3-4 waffles. Would also make a good pancake batter as well.

I guess I should mention: the technical difference between waffles and pancakes is that with waffles: you whip your egg whites and fold them in last. (add the egg yolks when you whisk the wet ingredients together) Frankly, I'm just too lazy to do it this way. I find the the crumb of the waffle to be better by using the muffin method (whisk dry ingredients, whisk wet ingredients, add together stir just to combine.) then by using the muffin method and folding egg whites. But thats me, try it out, make your own decision. 

And as always, Cheers! LiA

references:
thenibble.com
whatscookingamerica.net