BELGIAN WAFFLES

ARCHEOLOGISTS RECENTLY FOUND WHAT THEY THINK ARE 160,000 YEAR OLD human remains—some 60,000 years older than the oldest remains found previously—with tools that were similar to the tools their descendants were still using 60,000 years later. Talk about slow learners. More than 60,000 years had passed and our ancestors were still using stone chips to kill and butcher their meat.

Although the stone chips gradually gave way to tools made from bones, kitchen utensils didn’t improve that much for centuries. Preparing a hot meal usually meant throwing food into the fire or laying it on a nearby hot rock. Now you can make a case for doing pancakes on hot rocks, but not Belgian Waffles. We needed the Iron Age (somewhere about 2000 B.C., depending on where you lived) to give us the wherewithal to make waffle irons and other utensils to better fit the job at hand.

With better cooking methods came better diets, which led to better brains and a quick evolutionary jump to bundt pans, asparagus peelers, apple corers and other must-have utensils that we did quite well without for millenniums.

My Belgian Waffle iron is cast aluminum with a temperature gauge--it takes three-and-a-half minutes to heat up and about ninety seconds for the waffle to bake. Belgian Waffles were one of the early additions to my Sunday breakfast repertoire. Like pancakes, they leave the kitchen a mess. But they are worth it.

One of the key skills needed for Belgian Waffles is egg whipping. Here are some tips.

• Separate the eggs when they are cold; they separate better that way.
• Make sure there is no trace of egg yolk in the whites since the fat from the yolk will prevent the whites from becoming as fluffy as possible.
• Bring the whites to room temperature (about 70°F) before beating.

A chilled copper bowl works best for whipping the egg whites since copper reacts chemically with them, helping them retain moisture and form a more stable foam. You can get similar results by using a stainless steel bowl and adding about one-eighth teaspoon of cream of tartar per egg white when the egg whites start to get foamy. Avoid plastic or wooden bowls since it’s hard to get the grease out of plastic or wood because of their porous surfaces.

Purists insist on beating egg whites by hand with a balloon whisk. It’s great for your forearms and wrists. Start at about two beats per second. Add the tartar (if you’re using it) when the eggs turn foamy. Gradually increase the rate to four beats per second as the eggs form soft peaks. Keep it up (this takes some training) until you get to stiff peaks. Once you get to the stiff peaks, your forearms should be burning.

A hand-held mixer works well too. Just start the mixer on medium low speed. When the eggs turn foamy, add the tartar (if you’re using it) and gradually increase the speed to medium high. Stop the mixer to determine if you have soft peaks. When you get them, turn the mixer up to high and beat until you have stiff peaks. If the peaks are stiff and glossy, stop. If you beat them any longer, they will dry out and separate or weep.

Once you cook the waffles, try topping them with fruit compote and whipped cream, or just default to butter and syrup. Either way, they are a worthy way to start a Sunday.

Belgian Waffles: The Recipe

Makes eight big waffles

Ingredients

One package of dry yeast

2 cups lukewarm milk,110°-115° F.

4 eggs separated (Eggs separate better when cold, but the egg whites should be beaten when they are at room temperature.

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 ½ cups flour

1 tablespoon sugar

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup melted butter

First: Sprinkle the dry yeast over the lukewarm milk and allow the mixture to sit for five minutes.

Second: Beat the four egg yolks and combine with milk and yeast mixture. Add the vanilla and stir to combine.

Third: Sift together the flour, sugar and salt and add to mixture, stirring. Add the melted butter combining thoroughly.

Fourth: Beat the egg whites until soft peaks form, then gently fold the egg whites into the batter. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow the batter to rise for about 45 minutes. It should double in volume.

Fifth: Grease your waffle iron lightly; heat it up; and ladle on to it 1½ cups of batter. (Double-check the manufacturer’s recommendation. Depending on the size of the waffle iron, you may need to use less or more batter.) Spread the batter to within a ¼ inch of the edge with the back of a wooden spoon. Close the iron and bake until the waffle is golden brown, usually about 60 seconds on one side and about 30 seconds on the other for the traditional kind of waffle iron. You shouldn’t need to grease the iron between each waffle since the butter in the batter should prevent sticking.

And finally: Serve immediately or put them on the rack (don’t stack them or they’ll get soggy) in a 200°F oven. They freeze well, so if you have leftovers, freeze them for another day, and then warm them directly on the rack of a 350°F oven.