Happy National Waffle Day Aug 24

 National Waffle Day commemorates the anniversary of the first waffle iron patent issued. On August 24, 1869, Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York received his patent for the waffle iron. Celebrate by savoring your favorite kind of waffle.

For longer than anyone can remember, waffles have been a sweet, toasty breakfast treat and a staple inside America’s freezers, restaurants, and recipe books. Maybe you enjoy waffles the old-fashioned way, with butter and maple syrup, or perhaps you like them decked out with chocolate chips, whipped cream, strawberries, and other decadent toppings. Or perhaps you have moved on to concepts like waffle sandwiches, waffle crepes, waffle pizzas, or chicken and waffles.

Food historians trace the waffle’s DNA back to ancient Greece, when cooks roasted flat cakes between two metal plates attached to a long wooden handle. Obelios, as the cakes were called, were not particularly sweet or decadent, but their design evolved over time as people began customizing the plates. In Medieval Europe, the Catholic Church made a large, unleavened wafer as a sort of companion to the communion wafer. These oublies (or “wafers,” derived from the Greek term) were typically made using grain flour and water, and would depict Biblical scenes, crosses, and other religious icons. They were often served after meals as a symbolic final blessing.

In the early 18th century, the English added a second "f" to form the word we know today: waffles. It wasn’t until waffles came to America, courtesy of the Dutch, that they were finally paired with maple syrup, a popular liquid sweetener that was cheaper and more widely available than granulated sugar, which had to be imported. As early as the 1740s, colonists in New Jersey and New York were having parties known as "wafel frolics." Thomas Jefferson, who loved waffles so much that he brought four waffle irons that he bought in Amsterdam, regularly served waffles at Monticello along with other shockingly modern foods like ice cream, French fries, and macaroni and cheese.

A few decades later, three brothers from California would revolutionize the waffle industry and breakfasts everywhere. In 1932, Frank, Anthony, and Samuel Dorsa started a food manufacturing company in their parents’ basement in San Jose. Their first breakthrough, Eggo Mayonnaise, so named because it used "100 percent fresh ranch eggs," became a local success, as did a waffle batter they sold to consumers and restaurants. The brothers also developed one of the first dry waffle mixes, which required just milk to create a rich, thick batter. The Dorsas were so successful that after just a few years they moved out of their parents’ basement and into an old potato chip factory, where they expanded into other categories like chips, noodles, and pretzel sticks.