The Norwegian Waffle
If there is a Norwegian baked good that has not gotten its due international respect, it’s the waffle. While similar to its Belgian cousin in flavor, it is thinner and softer, consisting of six heart-shaped slices:
The waffle is ubiquitous in most Norwegian family-friendly gatherings. Go to a community event, and you’ll find waffle stands benefiting any number of grassroots organizations. Should the event not have waffles, you’ll have every reason to assume you’re being scammed.
Here is a modification of a MatPrat waffle recipe, just in time for The International Waffle Day on March 25th. Note that you require a particular style of griddle iron to make Norwegian waffles—CucinaPro has a reasonable $38 option.
Ingredients
- 1 ¾ c flour
- ½ c sugar
- 1 ts baking powder
- 1 ts cardamom
- 1 ¾ c milk
- 3 eggs
- 8 tbsp butter, melted
Steps
- Mix dry goods together in a bowl, and gradually add milk.
- Stir in eggs and melted butter.
- Follow your waffle iron’s instructions.
Norwegian waffles tend to be topped with either jam—strawberry or raspberry—or brown gjetost (marketed as Ski Queen in the US). Braver souls will even combine the two, so live dangerously if you so wish.
Language Oddities
The Norwegian word for a waffle is “vaffel.” For waffles, plural, it’s “vafler”—note the removed “f.” If I remember my elementary-school education correctly, Norwegian spelling does not allow for three consonants in a row.
Web Sources
“Gode vafler, vaffelrøre.” MatPrat. www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/tradisjon/vafler/