[Sca-cooks] waffles

[kingstaste at mindspring.com]

The kid was having a belgian style waffle for supper last night and we got
into a "who thinks up this stuff?" conversation. I thought that waffles
were a decendant or at least a distant relative of wafers. Does anyone
know?

Mirhaxa

  mirhaxa at morktorn.com


That sounds kind of like the question "which came first, the waffle or the
wafer?".  I can't answer that question, but I can give you some sources that
show the waffle in period (I'll leave the wafer docs to someone else,
although the citations below talk about both).
Christianna

>From Katie Stewart's book "The Joy of Eating",pages 86-87.
Unfortunately, Ms. Stewart does not give us the name of the artist or the
name of the painting, but the painting appears to be dated 1560.  We see a
multigenerational family, grandparents, parents and baby. Next to the
grandfather is a plate of waffles, next to the mother is a plate of
pancakes.  The grandmother is making the pancakes in the background, using a
skillet to make the pancakes.  The skillet is suspended over the fire by a
large ring attached to a set of chains.

>From Peter Rose's book, "The Sensible Cook", we find these paintings:

Page 2: Jan Steen, "The 12th Night Feast" Jan Steen 1626-1679.
Page 15: Willem Buytewech, "Interior" 1610.
Page 22: Jan Steen, "The St. Nicholas Celebration"
Page 77: Nicholas Maes, "The Pancake Maker" Nicholas Maes 1634-1693.
Page 117: No artist or date: "Sweet meal"

>From "De Verstandige Kock" [Dutch 1667, the preface says that many of the
recipes in this cookbook copy those from "Eenen Seer Schonen/ende
Excellenten
Coc-boeck" published in 1589.  This is the only period Dutch cookbook that
has been translated into English. There are many paintings of pancakes and
waffles that
are pre-1600.   -Huette

1) To fry common Pancakes.
For each pond of Wheat-flour take a pint of sweet Milk and 3 Eggs.
Some add some sugar to it.

2) To fry the best kind of Pancakes.
Take 5 or 6 Eggs with clean, running water, add to it Cloves, Cinnamon,
Mace, and Nutmeg with some Salt, beat it with some Wheat-flour as thick as
you like,
fry them and sprinkle them with Sugar; these are prepared with running water
because with Milk or Cream they would be tough.

3) To fry Groeninger Pancakes.
Take a pond of Wheat-flour, 3 Eggs, a quarter pond of Currants and Some
Cinnamon, this is fried in Butter.  Is good.

4) To fry Waffles.
For each pond of Wheat-flour take a pint of sweet Milk, a little tin bowl of
melted Butter with 3 or 4 Eggs, a spoonful of Yeast well stirred together.

5) To fry Wafers.
Take a pond Wheat-flour, a loot Cinnamon, a half loot Ginger, 2 Eggs, a half
beer glass Rhenish-wine, a stuyver Rosewater, a small bowl Butter without
Salt, a
little Sugar; beaten with some lukewarm water until the thickness of Pancake
[batter] and fried in the iron.  Is delicious.