March 25: International Waffle Day

It’s a breakfast, it’s a snack, its also a dessert?? No matter what you classify it as, there’s hardly any debate out there that this food is just dang delicious. It’s March 25, and today is International Waffle Day.

First origins of the waffle and where they originate from is a little hazy. The Swedes claim it, the Belgians are known for it, and yet, what we do know is that waffles seem to have been first created in the 1400s in Europe, when a craftsman had an idea for cooking irons that reproduced a pattern of a honeycomb.

The word waffle appears in the English language in 1725, derived from the Dutch word Wafel. And in 1789, they reach America, another thing we can thank Thomas Jefferson for, who brought a French Waffle Iron to the US.

In 1869 , Cornelius Swarthout earned a patent for the first waffle iron in the US on August 24- which is actually National Waffle Day in the US. Before the electric version, you would heat the iron over a coal stove, pour the batter, and flip!

Here are some waffle types out there:

What is known as the Brussels Waffle in Belgium is what most of us know as the Belgian waffle — light and fluffy. Belgian or Brussels waffles are typically square, whereas American waffles are usually round. This differs from the Liege waffle, which are more snack-like — denser, crispier, with a caramelized sugar coating that provides a very distinct and sweet flavor. Those are my personal favorite. There are actually even more waffles and waffle cousins out there — The egg or Hong Kong Waffle, the Krumkake, the malted waffle, pizzelles, the potato waffle, stroopwafel, waffle cone… the types go on!

Before we go, here are some other fun waffle facts:

• Waffles inspired Nike’s first sneakers — yup, they were even called the Waffle Trainer. Bill Bowerman was inspired in 1971 when he watched his wife make morning waffles — the honeycomb shape inspired him for the shape of the soles — actually using a waffle iron to make the first shoe!
• Waffle House sells 145 waffles a minute
• The famous Eggo Waffles originally were a mayonnaise company, founded in 1932. When the frozen brand launched in 1953, before simply being named after the company Eggo, they tried out the name Froffles, a combination of the name frozen and waffles.
• Negative cups plus positive waffles equals the creation of the ice cream cone! In 1904 at the St. Louis World Fair, when an ice cream vendor ran out of cups, he asked his waffle vendor neighbor for some waffles — and the ice cream cone was born.

So, on this day, don’t waffle around, order some waffles! Happy holiday everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow.