waffles!

  Alexander Hugo Bakker Korff
The Waffle Maker (ca. 1850-1882)
Rijskmuseum

Pieter Aertsen
De pannenkoekenbakkerij, 1560
Collection Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam

We surely do like a waffle in The Netherlands and have done so since the Middle Ages. You can see a 17th century Dutch waffle recipe taken from the 1667 cook book “De verstandige kock” (“The wise cook”) further below. This cook book was written for the upper classes in society and is thought to be the only recipe book published in the Dutch Golden Age (Wikipedia). The full title must certainly have appealed to literate folk:

“De verstandige kock, of Sorghvuldige huyshoudster: beschrijvende, hoemen op de beste en bequaemste maniere alderhande spijsen sal braden, koocken, stooven en bereyden; met de saussen daer toe dienende. Seer dienstigh en profijtelijck in alle huyshoudinge. Oock om veelderley slagh van taerten en pasteyen toe te stellen. Hier is achter by gevoeght, de Verstandige confituurmaker, onderwijsende, hoemen van alderhande vruchten, wortelen, bloemen en bladen &c. goede en nutte confituren sal konnen prepareren en bewaren”

The interesting thing about the 17th century recipe is, now the Dutch were helping themselves (“trading”) to the spices of the Far East, sailing there frequently onboard the Dutch East India Company fleet, that exotic spices were added to the waffle batter for the first time. Sadly these ingredients have since disappeared from waffle recipes.

Waffles were not only popular in Holland: as they appear in German and Spanish paintings it can be safely assumed that waffles were enjoyed throughout Europe.

Sweetmeats And Dried Fruit On A Table
Tomas Hiepes (1600 – 1635)
Museo del Prado

The 1667 Dutch waffle recipe

You can use this recipe to bake fat or thin waffles, as was done in 17th century Holland and in the centuries prior. Thin round waffles were called “Kniepertjes”.

Ingredients
200g flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon ginger powder
50g sugar
1 egg
200ml white wine
60g butter, melted
1 tablespoon rose water

Method

Combine the flour, cinnamon, ginger and sugar in a bowl and mix well. Beat the egg in a separate bowl and mix into this the wine, butter and rose water. Add this to the flour mixture and stir to form a smooth batter. Heat the waffle iron, adding a little butter before pouring the batter and baking your waffles one by one. Allow the waffles to cool if you like them crispy; you can roll them up while still warm, like those in Tomas Hiepes’s painting above. Enjoy!
And don’t forget to let me know what your waffles were like.

References:

Wikipedia: https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_verstandige_kock_of_sorghvuldige_huyshoudster
A published adaptation (Dutch) of “De verstandige kock” by Marleen Willebrands and Manon Henzen, including information on 17th-century crockery and cooking utensils by Alexandra van Dongen: https://eetverleden.nl/de-verstandige-kok/

View paintings: dutchfinepaintings.com

December 2024 / dutchfinepaintings.com / 17th century Dutch waffle recipe