Not lost in translation: Waffles!

I’m sure in the not-so-distant future a blog post will be coming titled “Lost in Translation” as I continue to stumble through life in a foreign country.

But one thing I can assure is NOT lost in translation is the WAFFLES – ‘gaufrés’ in French, ‘wafel’ in Dutch (that one is pretty easy to pick up on 😬). One of the first words I learned, crucial really.

While I have an unusual talent to eat endless amounts of candy and chocolate on any given day (mad skills!), I’ve never been a huge pancake or waffle fan. I don’t like syrup very much; it’s just too sticky, the smell never goes away, and it’s one of the few sweet things that just doesn’t butter my bread.

But these Belgian waffles? Belgian waffles that are actually made here, not just some silly pretend version concocted in the United States with the name “Belgian” in front of it – these are what dreams are made of.

Pretty much everywhere has them – the coffee shop on base, the zoo, the mall, ice cream restaurants. Some are a tad better, but overall I find they’re all delish and worthy of my time. In fact, if I pass a stand I almost always end up with one (which is not helping me on my quest to clean up my diet 😂, though I did make it ONE WHOLE DAY without any candy or waffles last week).

(It is also important to note, that the ones sent from heaven (personal opinion) are a certain ‘type’ – the Liege gaufré. The other type is the Bruxelles (Brussels) gaufré (both are named for their respective cities). The Bruxelles are good, but more like the type Americans would try to pass off – square and light and fluffy – see bottom for picture) .

But the Liege gaufré – heaven. It is very dense and much thicker with sugar inside. The restaurants/stands/stores that sell these also usually have a seemingly endless amount of syrups and toppings to choose from – spéculoos, chocolate, white chocolate, M&Ms, coconut, nuts, sprinkles – you name it, they probably have it. We’ve tried a few different topping combinations, but I must say that I am a purest. I like them just the way they are (sometimes the toppings are just TOO much even for someone with a socially unacceptable diet that consists of mainly just sugar).