As it turns out, waffles are such a popular world-wide phenomenon, that they merit two days in the calendar to celebrate them.
Waffle Day began in Sweden as Våffeldagen, actually due to confusion between the Swedish “vårfrudagen” meaning “Our Lady’s Day” which falls on the same date. The day historically marks the beginning of spring and is celebrated by the eating of many waffles.
The alternative Waffle Day (on August 24th) began in the USA and honors the anniversary of the patenting of the first US waffle iron invented by Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York and is celebrated on 24th August.
Whichever day is picked to honour it however, the waffle is certainly deserving of celebration. The remarkable dough-based gridded cakes can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner, snack or dessert. And then there is that whole other business of the potato waffle, different but still delectable.
Take this day to explore the variety that the world of the waffle has to offer you: tuck into American waffles topped with fried chicken or alternatively stacked and drenched in sugary maple syrup for breakfast; enjoy a Brussels or Liège Belgian waffle dusted with confectioner’s sugar or coated in chocolate or cream, or travel east and sample a soft and sweet Hong Kong waffle laced with the flavours of peanut butter or honey melon.
- International Waffle day originated in Sweden.
- Waffles are descended from the flat cakes baked in ancient Greece. These cakes were prepared with cheese and herbs and cooked between two metal plates.
- The waffles we know today first appeared in the Middle Ages.
- Thomas Jefferson’s Belgian cook brought one of the first waffle irons to the US.
- The word “waffle” is from the Dutch, meaning “wafer”.
- Eggo Waffles were first brought into supermarket freezer sections in 1953.
- Parry Gripp created a song called “Do You Like Waffles” because of his love of waffles.
