I had no idea that waffles originated in Ancient Greece! Here’s what else I learned (admittedly from Wikipedia.)

Obelios

The precursors to the modern waffle were obelios, flat cakes cooked between hot metal plates in Ancient Greece.

Oublies

In Early Medieval Europe we see the development of fer à hosties, irons for cooking round communion wafers imprinted with an image of Jesus. At the same time moule à oublies were used to cook larger wafers (oublies), also round but often with Biblical scenes or designs. In the 11th century orange blossom water was first added to oublies, though honey or local flavourings may have been used earlier. In 1270 the oublieurs guild was established.

Waffles

In the 15th century we see the distinction between waffles and oublies. Rrectangular waffle irons appeared, as well as the grid pattern we now associate with waffles.

In the 16th century waffles appear in paintings, including The Fight Between Carnival and Lent (1559) by Pieter Bruegel (an artist my kids and I studied two or three years ago).

In 1560 the French King Charles IX enacted the first waffle legislation! Due to fights breaking out between waffle sellers (oublieurs) they were required “d’être au moins à la distance de deux toises l’un de l’autre” (to be no less than 4 yards from one to the other).

Recipes

The first known waffle recipe appeared in an anonymous manuscript called Le Ménagier de Paris in the late 14th century: 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.

The second known recipe appeared more than a century later, in the Dutch KANTL 15 manuscript (c. 1500–1560): Take grated white bread. Take with that the yolk of an egg and a spoonful of pot sugar or powdered sugar. Take with that half water and half wine, and ginger and cinnamon

You might have noticed something missing that would make waffles that are recognizable today: leavening. The first recipe using leavening (beer yeast) comes from a Belgian cookbook Een Antwerps kookboek in either the 16th or 17th centuries: Take white flour, warm cream, fresh melted butter, yeast, and mix together until the flour is no longer visible. Then add ten or twelve egg yolks. Those who do not want them to be too expensive may also add the egg white and just milk. Put the resulting dough at the fireplace for four hours to let it rise better before baking it

With the addition of leavening deeper waffle irons were needed (compared to the thin moule à oublies).

Expansion

During the 18th century the ingredients available for waffle making increased drastically. Most notably, sugar became more affordable. We also see mention of coffee, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, egg whites, lemon zest, and even chocolate in some German and French recipes.

The first appearance of the word “waffle” in the English language was in a 1725 printing of Court Cookery by Robert Smith. And I can’t neglect to mention that “wafel frolics” were documented as early as 1744 in New Jersey!

In the 20th century waffles shifted from being predominately a street food to being made at home. GE’s first electric commercial waffle maker was introduced in 1918 and by the 1930s pancake/waffle mix was marketed by multiple companies. Frozen Eggo waffles were first sold in 1953.

Now who wants a waffle (or better yet, to join me for a wafel frolic)?