Thanks to a flooded plant in Atlanta and a broken bakery in Tennessee, Kellogg Co. confirmed last week that it will have to ration its Eggo shipments well into next year. Considering the brand claims nearly 70% of the frozen-waffle industry, the shortage has been called a national calamity, further proof of global warming’s reach, a sign of the apocalypse, evidence of a corporate conspiracy and a good opportunity to cash in.
Like many of Western civilization’s finest achievements, the long and scrumptious history of waffles can be traced to ancient Greece, when Athenians cooked obelios — flat cakes between two metal plates — over burning embers. The word waffle is related to wafer, as in the communion wafer — one of the only victuals that early Catholics could eat during fasting periods since wafers didn’t contain animal fats, eggs or dairy products. During the Middle Ages, when bakeries decided to compete with monasteries in the wafer market, the secular — and considerably tastier — waffle was born.
Eventually, waffle irons engraved with coats of arms, religious symbols and the familiar honeycomb pattern were used to brand the baked treats. In medieval France, an entire guild was established in 1270 to train the vendors who sold waffles on the street. Because the simplest version only called for flour and water, it soon became a staple of country cooking, though wealthier peasants would add honey, eggs and aromatized wine. The delicacy, according to Geoffrey Chaucer, made for an excellent means of seduction. “He sent her sweetened wine and well-spiced ale/ And waffles piping hot out of the fire,” the English poet wrote of courtship in the 14th century in The Canterbury Tales.
The Pilgrims discovered waffles in Holland, where they spent time before arriving in America, and brought them across the Atlantic in 1620. Dutch immigrants popularized the dish in New Amsterdam before it was taken over by the British in 1803 and became New York City. Thomas Jefferson, as legend has it, bought a waffle iron in France as a sort of culinary souvenir and began serving waffles in the White House, helping spark a fad for “waffle parties” nationwide. Americans got their first taste of Belgian waffles — which are leavened with yeast and egg whites — at the 1964 World’s Fair . While the most common way to serve waffles in the U.S. is covered in butter and syrup, regional variations have evolved. Waffles topped with kidney stew were once said to be a local favorite in Baltimore, while one restaurant in Harlem claims it introduced waffles paired with fried chicken back in 1938.
The innovation of electricity brought the electric waffle iron, which was far less cumbersome and hazardous than a stovetop griddle. But for the harried homemaker, the newfangled appliance still wasn’t easy enough. Enter the Dorsa brothers, Frank, Tony and Sam, who in the mid-1930s created a dry waffle batter that only needed one ingredient: milk. When demand spread beyond their hometown of San Jose, Calif., Frank invented a carousel-like contraption that could churn out thousands of waffles in an hour, which could then be frozen and shipped. Kellogg bought the company in 1970 and introduced the catchy slogan “Leggo My Eggo” in 1972 — the same year a coach at the University of Oregon revolutionized athletic shoes by using a waffle iron to create better traction on the rubber soles of his sneakers.
If you’re thinking about making your own waffles to cope with the tough times ahead, you can find recipes for mashed-potato waffles, waffles with caviar, cornmeal waffle chips, something called a “waffle BLT” and even an alcoholic libation that calls for maple syrup and a waffle garnish. As for the devastating Eggo shortage of 2009, it helps to keep things in perspective. As Frank Dorsa’s son, Richard, told the San Jose Mercury News, if his dad was still around he’d just “shake his head and say, ‘This is silly.'”
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