Food Profile: Waffles

From Eggos to homemade, waffles are a delicious and traditional breakfast and snack food. The waffle has a long history, beginning with Middle Age "wafers". Wafers were very thin, light, and crisp versions of the waffle. It was made in a wafer iron, a device resembling the modern day waffle iron. The wafer iron was two plates connected by a hinge with an attached wooden handle. The wafer irons were often fancy though, with designs and patterns included on the plates; coat-of-arms or even landscapes were used. The wafer was cooked in the iron over an open fire, and was flipped to ensure both sides were thoroughly cooked. Unlike modern day waffles, the wafers were unleavened, and made from barley and oats (as opposed to the flour used now). The wafers were sold in one of three ways, rolled into a cone (think waffle cones at Ben and Jerrys), a tube, or kept flat. Waferers were the name of the street vendors responsible for selling the wafers. Dutch pilgrims first brought waffles to North America in 1620, although Thomas Jefferson was responsible for introducing America to the waffle iron (a common item in France). An interesting fact, waffle "frolics" or parties were a popular social event in the late eighteenth century. Like today, waffles were eaten as a sweet treat with fruit and syrup, or as a more dinner type meal with kidney-stew on top.

There are two main types of waffles, the Brussels waffle and the Liege waffle. The Brussels waffle is better known as the Belgian Waffle in the United States. A yeast-leavened batter is used to help produce a lighter, crispier texture. It is traditionally sold by street vendors as a warm treat, topped with confectioner's sugar and possible whipped cream or chocolate or even served dessert-style, with fruit, whipped cream, or even ice cream. The Liege waffle is the second type. Like the Brussels waffle, it too can be found as a warm treat on the street. Rather than sold by street vendors though, they are usually found in small shops, or even grocery stores. Other differences from the Brussels waffle include the taste, size, and texture. They are sweet, smaller, and denser than it's waffle brother. The importance lies in the nib sugar (also known as pearl sugar, a type of refined sugar with large grains) added to the batter at the last second. This is used to create a distinctive caramelized sugar coating, another distinction from the Brussels waffle (and part of the reason for the sweetness). The Liege waffle is usually a plain treat, but can sometimes be accompanied by the usual toppings of fruit, cream, or chocolate. There is a third type of waffle but it is usually not recognized by true waffle aficionados. This is the so-called American waffle. Rather than a yeast leavened batter, the batter utilizes baking powder and egg whites. The egg whites serve to lighten the batter, although they are denser and thinner then the Brussels. In the United States, waffles are traditionally known as a breakfast food, covered with butter and syrups. They also have a broader appeal in such dishes as chicken and waffles.


Brussels Waffles
http://www.aopy00.dsl.pipex.com/recipes/waffles.shtml

Ingredients
3¼ cups plain flour
7g instant dried yeast (one sachet)
4 medium eggs
Whole milk
Vanilla extract
Two sticks (½ lb.) butter

Directions
1. Mix flour and yeast in a large bowl; beat in eggs one-by-one. Then add milk gradually, beating all the while, to make a thick batter. Melt butter and add gradually to the batter beating all the while. Add milk as required to give the batter the consistency of thick cream, add a few drops of vanilla extract. Cover with cling wrap and leave overnight at room temperature.
2. Heat the waffle iron, quite hot; brush lightly with butter or oil. Ladle batter into iron and close.
3. The waffles should be golden brown when they come out of the iron, not dark brown.


Liege Waffles
http://www.aopy00.dsl.pipex.com/recipes/liege_waffles.shtml

Ingredients
3¼ cups plain flour
7g instant dried yeast (one sachet)
2 medium eggs
1 cup whole milk
Two sticks (½ lb.) butter
2 oz. honey
Vanilla extract
10 oz pearl sugar

Directions
1. Mix flour and yeast in a large bowl; beat in eggs one-by-one. Then add milk and honey gradually, beating all the while, to make a thick batter or moist dough. Melt butter and add gradually to the batter, beating all the while. Cover with cling film and leave overnight at room temperature.
2. Pearl sugar may a little tricky to find. What I have found works best it to put granulated sugar into a clean frying pan or baking tray and add enough water to dampen the sugar. Then, on a low heat, dry out the sugar again, so that it forms a solid crust. Get the sugar out of the pan (by banging!), and then beat the sugar with a rolling pin to break it into small lumps (about half the size of a US sugar lump).
3. Mix the sugar lumps and vanilla extract into the dough and let it stand in a warm place for 15-30 minutes.
4. Heat the waffle iron; brush lightly with butter or oil. Ladle batter into iron (leave room for the batter to expand) and close. The waffles should be dark brown when they come out of the iron, not golden brown. The sugar melts out and caramelizes, so be careful taking the waffles out—the caramel will stick to your skin and burn you if you touch it.


References
http://augustinswaffles.gourmetfoodmall.net/StaticPage.php?pageid=257
http://user.gru.net/venkman/Waffles.html
http://www.experiencefestival.com/waffle_-_history__medieval_origins

Dumpsters, not just for hobos anymore!

America throws away a lot of food. According to the Freegan website (freegan.info), nearly 30% of food produced in the US eventually gets thrown away. And this is happening while people here and aboard are going hungry, while food is being imported from other places to feed us, while the families who grew that food will never get to see it, and of course while Monsanto seizes control of our entire food chain by buying up one seed company after another.

Yesterday in class we had David Giles talk to us about dumpster diving. It is exactly what it sounds like: you find a food dumpster in your neighborhood that has the food you want, you wait until the business shuts down at the end of the day, you look in the dumpster and if it has that food in it, you climb into the dumpster to retrieve it. Now there are definitely certain risks you have to watch out for but it’s actually pretty safe. Just throw “dumpster diving” into Google and you will find hundreds of guides on how to do it and what foods are safe and what isn’t.

Dumpster diving has never really appealed to me but listening to David kind of made it sound a little more appealing. Plus the whole saving on groceries thing is pretty nice too. Even if I could cut my food bill in half each month, I would be saving over two hundred dollars. I just might try this dumpster diving and see how it turns out.