{"id":303,"date":"2016-08-08T18:00:04","date_gmt":"2016-08-08T18:00:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.skyesherman.com\/?p=303"},"modified":"2018-01-29T22:11:43","modified_gmt":"2018-01-29T22:11:43","slug":"belgian-waffles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.skyesherman.com\/belgian-waffles\/","title":{"rendered":"You’ve Never Actually Eaten A Belgian Waffle"},"content":{"rendered":"
Spoiler alert: There’s no such thing as a Belgian waffle. <\/strong><\/p>\n What?!<\/em> You protest. I know there is! I’ve eaten them myself!<\/em><\/p>\n No. You’ve eaten a Brussels<\/em> waffle, or you’ve eaten a Li\u00e8ge<\/em> waffle–but you haven’t eaten a Belgian<\/em> waffle.<\/p>\n It turns out that a proper\u00a0Belgian<\/em> waffle doesn’t exist, because Belgian waffles\u00a0come in two different forms. A Brussels waffle is lighter and typically more of a rectangle shape; when made correctly, it’s fluffy on the inside and crispy on the outside. Because of this, you can’t buy them on the street in Brussels–they’d only last a few minutes off the waffle iron before losing that perfect airiness. A\u00a0Li\u00e8ge waffle, on the other hand, is denser, sweeter, and more of an irregular shape. These are the waffles sold in every other shop around Grand Place in Brussels–but be warned, if you order any of the numerous toppings offered, you’re actually eating it\u00a0all wrong<\/em>!<\/p>\n If you’ve visited Brussels, you were probably drawn in at some point by a\u00a0\u20ac1 waffle sign (only to leave wondering how you somehow\u00a0walked out\u00a0\u20ac7 poorer). All the\u00a0waffles on display in the window have toppings aplenty, so you felt inclined to follow suit–but then you\u00a0found\u00a0yourself struggling to walk, and carry your waffle, and<\/em> eat it with that ridiculously tiny fork thing they give you. And all the locals laugh.<\/em><\/p>\n I’ll let you in on a little secret I learned about waffles: a\u00a0Li\u00e8ge waffle, or street waffle, is intended to be eaten totally plain! Because they’re already sweet, they’re not meant\u00a0to be served with any toppings–the idea is that you just hold it in your hand and eat it as is, no fork needed. Brussels waffles are the waffles meant for toppings (and forks), but these can only be purchased in a restaurant or some other sit-down place where they will be baked, served, and eaten\u00a0immediately, not re-heated from a pre-made batch like most of the street waffles are. That’s why the little forks from the street waffle shops are so frustratingly useless–they’re only there as a source of amusement to locals who get to watch unsuspecting tourists\u00a0struggle to eat a street waffle in a manner reserved solely for non-street waffles. Joke’s on us!<\/p>\n Where did I gather all this waffle expertise? The Brussels Waffle Workshop<\/a>, of course. Once you’ve tried a waffle from every shop you laid\u00a0eyes on, it’s time to try making your own Brussels waffles. We had so much fun with Titch, the waffle master, learning the history of this traditional Belgian treat and perfecting the art of waffle-making.<\/p>\n