November 20, 2025 • 42 mins
These thin, crisp sandwich cookies with a chewy caramel center are a favorite snack of café patrons and endurance athletes alike. Anney and Lauren iron out the science and history of stroopwafels.
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Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello, and welcome to save a productive of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Rethel and I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for you
about stroop Waffles.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, it's a fun one. It's a fun one.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
It is fun to say, fun all around.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And there is a fun reason for why we are
talking about this. Yes. Uh, it was just life Day.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Happy Life Day, everyone, Happy Life Day. If you're unaware,
that's a Star Wars holiday for wookies.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yes, but now it's for all of us.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Oh, now, it's for all of us.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Okay, good.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It takes place on November seventeenth, and it is based
on the Star Wars Holiday special, which I believe you still.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Haven't seen, Laura, I have not. I have seen b
Arthur's number are now.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
But oh good, that's one of the best parts. It
is difficult to explain and wild and in my personal opinion,
worth experiencing at least once. But if you hate me afterwards,
I wouldn't blame you for it. It's notoriously bad.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah. This was a mid seventies television holiday special.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
That was It was a variety show.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
It was interestingly put together.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I watched it for a life day as always, and
even so after all these years, I was struck by
how how bizarre and strange it really is.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That's great, yeah or something?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, yeah, I actually didn't watch it. I knew, I
knew about the reputation of it for a long time,
but I didn't watch it until the pandemic, and I
have to say.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Exceeded exceeded expectations.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yes, yep, I knew it was going to be strange,
and it was even stranger than I could have imagined
could ever been to words. Also, this is kind of
where you get Boba fet. He appeared previously in a parade,
but this is where most found about Boba fet. And
(02:30):
the really funny thing is you can't get it anywhere.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Oh yeah, No, this is not what Disney wants you
to be watching.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
No, they've only released certain segments of it, but you
can still find it on YouTube. And trust me, I
saved a copy, so no one will be taking this
from me physical media forever. Yes, yes, And if you
want to go listen to over on stuff. When I
(02:56):
told you, we've done several episodes about what happened here.
But it was a really interesting time for Star Wars
because it was kind of the wild West.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
They were like, let's try this. People like this the studio.
The studio's not giving us money, No one's giving us support.
What if we try all of these things. It's a
fascinating history of how it happened, and it's a fascinating
thing to watch.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Well, I look forward to doing that someday.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I You're welcome, and I'm sorry. I personally loved it.
But one of the reasons, one of the reasons we
chose our food topic for today. It's basically Star Wars Christmas,
and so there's a some cooking scenes in it, and
(03:55):
we were trying to pick a topic for Life Day
and I was thinking of a couple of things we
haven't covered yet, and there's there's wookie cookies or wookie
cookies as they kind of say, but so we were
looking for a cookie.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, and a striop waffle has been on our list
for a while. I believe a few of you have
suggested it and I didn't right in the top here
who that was, So if it was you, thank you. Also,
Oh heck, they're so delicious. I love a stroop waffle. Annie,
you dislike caramel?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
How do you, how do you feel like? I like,
I think that you said that you have consumed at
least one like because you used to be really big
into running and like distance running.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yes, so I do. I have had the energy cookie
as they're often called, that you athletes consume for long
distance are hard workouts. To be honest, most of the
things I eat during that period, I just don't.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You're not thinking about them as food at all. You're
just like, this is literally a calorie to consume so
that I can continue doing this thing that I am doing.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, it's a very it's been one hour. You need
this much energy and it doesn't taste like anything to me.
It's just can I swallow it? Not tope while I'm
still running. But I have had When I was in Belgium,
I had stoop waffle. I don't recall hating it.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Okay, that's good, I'm glad.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah I don't. I kind of didn't even know Kramel
was involved. Makes me wonder if I got some kind
of different variety. But it's quite possible I had it
and it just was minimal or who knows.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I still think that your problem with caramel is like
the fake caramel flavor that Yeah, that like inexpensive candy
bars put into that kind of thing, but that that
that is that is just this is not backed by
any kind of scientific study.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
More research is necessary. I believe that that is a
strong possibility. I don't remember strongly disliking it, but I
also didn't seek it out. I think I had it
like the one incident. Yeah, h well, maybe future research
(06:40):
is needed, but for now, you can see our past
cookie episodes, of which we do have many pizzelle I
would say specifically relates to this one. Absolutely waffles.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, yeah, we haven't done a full waffle episode, but
we did do one about Ego brand and it does
go into the history of waffles and waffle machines a
decent thing.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, that was a that was a headache inducing rabbit
hole for me. I have to say on this one.
Oh yeah, but I guess that brings us to our
question absolutely stop waffles. What are they?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Well, strip waffles are a type of sandwich cookie made
from a thin, crispy waffle cut in half the long
way or to extra thin waffles, with a also thin feeling
of chewy, soft caramel in the middle. The waffle batter
and or the caramel. Are typically flavored with vanilla and
(07:51):
a little bit of cinnamon, giving you this like simple
but really rich, buttery, toasty, warm flavor and in a
really craveable, like crisp, tender, chewy sort of texture. They're
typically round, super thin, like maybe maybe half a centimeter
like a quarter of an inch thick, and about the
(08:12):
diameter of the top of a coffee mug, maybe like
three inches across, that's about eight centimeters or so, though
they can come in jumbo or mini sizes. And I
used a coffee mug as a reference here because they
are often eaten as a snack alongside coffee or tea,
and a popular thing to do is to heat them
up a little bit by by balancing the cookie on
(08:35):
top of your cup for a minute or two and
thus letting the caramel soften before you eat it. And oh,
they're so they're so nice. They're so nice. They're just
this like crispy, chewy, melty with like a with like
a nice sweet, rich flavor, without feeling heavy, almost more
(08:59):
like a like a candy bar, like a delicate candy
bar than a cookie. They're like they're like putting on
a sweatshirt warm from the dryer.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Now, see, this is something that some companies who make
stup waffle have been very outspoken about, is this is
how you eat it. And I definitely know the streep
waffle I had. I didn't do this, I didn't put
it on the coffee mug or whatever. But it sounds
delightful like that kind of melty.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah I haven't, I haven't even tried doing that, but
but still like, I don't know, but I also adore caramel.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
So.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Kind of reminds me of Tim Tims. You remember the
Tim Tims. Yeah, sure, having this alternate this is how
you eat it warmed up. People have really strong opinions
about that.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Oh absolutely, Oh my goodness they do. Huh well, okay,
so so waffles, in case you weren't aware, are a
type of baked good made by cooking a batter super
briefly between two hot plates and strip waffle batter is
usually rich with eggs and butter and sugar. Usually includes
(10:14):
a yeast rising as well for airiness. It's a fairly
thick dough, more and more like a cookie dough. The
plates for stroop waffles typically have a three dimensional crosshatch pattern,
forming little sunken squares in the final waffle. The hot
plates give them a good golden brown on the outside,
and the brief cooking time lets the inside stay soft.
(10:36):
The waffles used for stroop waffles are on the thin side.
If you're using two for the sandwich, you are looking
at a waffle iron that produces the thickness of a pizzelle.
If you're splitting a single waffle to make the cookie,
you got to make that horizontal cut as soon as
it comes off the iron so that the waffle is
still soft and pliable. And it does help, I understand
(10:57):
to use a round cookie cutter to punch out and
even circle even if you already have a circular waffle,
just to give you like an edge to work with
as you cut. Yeah anyway, Soft caramel on the same hand,
it's on the same cookie.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Sure is a candy that's made by cooking sugar and
some kind of fatty dairy or dairy substitute together until
the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, meaning that it'll
have thickened up and developed like lovely toasty flavors, but
will still be chewy, not not hard. When it cools
to room temperature. The dairy in question can be cream, milk, butter,
(11:36):
or a combination of the three. The heat will also
develop some toasty flavors in the dairy. Sugars too. Substitutes
like coconut products will lend a bit of a different flavor,
which might be what you're going for. I don't know.
The striup waffle literally means syrup waffle in Dutch and
(11:58):
syrup because the carnal will be a syrupy liquid when
it's hot, which is the state that you want it
in when you pour it over your waffles to make
sandwich cookie.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Some classic recipes for this do call for things like
honey or molasses in the caramel, which add a bit
of flavoring but also help the caramel syrup stay stable.
Like sugar kind of wants to be a crystal and
you have to be real careful when you're cooking it
or it will recrystallize in the pan. These days, corn
syrup is a cheaper and more neutrally flavored substitute for
(12:34):
those things. In the Netherlands, which is where striop waffles
are from, I think that that original vanilla cinnamon flavor
is the go to option, but these days and definitely
around the US, there are all kinds of flavors made
by adding ingredients to often the waffle, sometimes the filling,
(12:55):
sometimes both. I've seen yes, honey coffee or espresso, fig maple, chocolate, peanut, butter,
strawberry cookies, and cream snickerdoodle birthday cake. You can also
dip or half dip a stop waffle in chocolate and
add crumbles of candy or other cookies, cookies on cookies,
(13:18):
I love it, and yeah. A stoop waffle can be
purchased from bakeries and street vendors in specifically in the Netherlands,
served up in just like a paper napkin, but are
also manufactured and packaged both singly and in like stacks.
Manufacturers also make mini sizes that come in bags and
(13:39):
yeah yeah. They are often served as a cafe snack
around the Netherlands, but can be eaten anytime or incorporated
into other desserts, like as a topping for ice cream,
or chopped up as an ingredient in cakes or like
layered puddings or what have you. And as we alluded
to earlier, they have also been picked up endurance workout
(14:01):
communities in the US and maybe elsewhere y'all write in
as like a mid exercise snack. Some companies do specifically
produce like lower sugar or higher fiber or whatever, stoop
waffles for that purpose.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Oh my goodness, future episode, not for today. But what
about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Ah that depends can be pretty sugary, you can be
pretty fatty. Cookies, generally speaking, are treats, and treats are nice.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Treats are nice, and we all deserve a treat sometimes.
Oh we do, yes, well, we do have some numbers
for you.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
We do so. In the Netherlands, twenty two million packets
of stroop waffles are sold every year, which works out
to about twenty stroop waffles per capita. Companies that make
stroop waffle manufacturing equipment, which is a thing, say that
(15:10):
this equipment is capable of producing up to twenty five
thousand stroop waffles per hour. September thirtieth is World stroop
Waffle Day, which is a thing that I think was
started by the famous Dutch producer Dolmonds and the Guinness
(15:37):
record for the largest stroop waffle was achieved in Guda
in the Netherlands in twenty thirteen. It measured two point
four to seven meters across, which is eight point one feet,
and involved sixty kilos of dough, fifteen kilos of caramel,
and a baking iron that weighed three thousand kilos and
(15:59):
had to be hoisted by a crane. I didn't I
didn't translate that into pounds. You can imagine it's heavy.
The team planned for a year and a half to
pull this off.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
That is both impressive and, as I've said before, a
lot of these records make me nervous. Actually, I don't
know why specifically.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I think I think both of us are like like
run towards nervousness and chet. Yeah, and there's like a
lot of safety concerns that I have. And I'm just
like Adgie's Adgie's watch out guys, Like there's like my
little that's very nice.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'm more like the what if the cookie came to
life and now I've got to deal with an eight
foot whatever cookie.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I mean, both both of these are you know, we're
just we're just looking out. We're we're just looking out
for everyone.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
More research is needed.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh no, well, okay, we don't spoiler alert. We don't
have any cookies coming to life here in the history section.
But we do have quite a history for you, and
we are going to get into that as soon as
we get back from a quick break for a word
from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes,
(17:32):
thank you. Okay, So you can see our ego episode
for more about this. But briefly, waffles in general, meaning
thin cakes formed and cooked between metal plates, go back
to ancient Greece at least they developed during medieval times
into wafers with religious iconography produced by the Catholic Church,
(17:54):
then in the thirteen hundreds or so, into recipes that
we would like more or less recognize today. In the Netherlands.
Around that time, bakers started using rectangular plates forged with
a grid pattern, although historians aren't sure whether this was
like a decorative choice or a practical matter for the blacksmiths,
(18:14):
or like a practical request from the baker's for a
design with a greater surface area, like letting the waffles
get more crisper faster. But at any rate, yet they
had like a waffle baker's guild and everything by around
the thirteen hundreds.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yes, and according to sources, stoop waffle were a Dutch
creation cir the late seventeen hundreds or early eighteen hundreds.
They were created in the Dutch town of Howda or
an American Guda and yes, the namesake of the cheese Guda,
and were originally called Gudha's waffle. They were fairly cheap
(18:54):
and popular at events like festivals, and Dutch Waffle Company
reports that one hundred bakers in Gouda were making them
by the end of the eighteen hundreds, and they soon
spread to neighboring cities, in part because of these festivals,
where people would visit have one.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
And they'd be like, oh, yeah, that thing.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
There is of course a popular story that stroop waffle
were created thanks to bakers not wanting to waste leftover
crumbs from their baking. So these crumbs were really dry.
How did the bakers get them to stick together? Syrup
and so the resulting cookies were pretty cheap and easy
(19:39):
to make it first, but over time bakers added in flour, sugar,
and butter. Some sources specifically credit baker Girard Campuisen and
say that he originally sold these very cheaply. His original
attempts of coalescing these leftover bakery bits didn't work out,
(20:00):
he added syrup and molasses. His bakery first opened in
eighteen ten. In The first known written recipe for stoup
roffel dates back to eighteen forty, so it is possible,
depending on which version of the story you read, this
might have been the result of an accident or failed
attempt to make a wafer with a waffle iron. The
(20:23):
wafer crumbled into pieces, so he got the idea to
use a thick sweetener like sugar beet molasses to keep
the crumbs together. Mystery's history. Modern waffle and pizzelle irons
were invented in the eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yes and yeah, right, mystery's history. But certainly once stoup
waffles started catching on, they were helped out by this
particular type of flour. This Dutch cake flour made from
a soft wheat grown in regions along the North Sea
(21:02):
called zeus bloom. Apologies from my Dutch throughout this episode,
but yes, it's a little lower in proteins including gluten
than many other flowers, which means that it bakes up
more crispy than chewy, which helps give you that final
texture in a strip waffle.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yes, and that brings us to another big name in
the stroop waffle story. Hermanus Dolmonds opened a small family
bakery selling stroopwaffle in nineteen oh four, and nowadays Damons
is one of the biggest names of stroop waffle, perhaps
particularly abroad because they were one of the first to
(21:46):
start exporting their products. According to the company website, Dowmond's
motto the person was when you indulge.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Do it right, ooh, all right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Stroopwaffle commercial prediction really got underway in the twentieth century.
There were multiple factories churning them out of how To
or Guda by nineteen sixty.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, I read as many as seventeen around that time,
though those have since consolidated to around four I think.
And speaking of more recent times, a Dutch astronaut and
physician by the name of Andre Kuiper's took stroop waffles
with him on at least one of his two missions
(22:33):
to the International Space Station in the early two thousands.
His first mission was eleven days in two thousand and four,
his second was five months, launching in December of twenty eleven,
and during that second one he definitely brought stroop waffles,
and also negotiated to bring ten kilos of Guda, specifically
(22:53):
Old Amsterdam brand to share with his colleagues there. He
wrote in an ESA blog, a European Space agency blog,
that they were so well fed with like snacks and
desserts and hot meals every day that everyone had to
watch their weight to avoid like throwing off station movement
calculations while they were up there. And I am not
sure exactly how much of this was a joke, but
(23:17):
I love it. That's fantastic. We got a space fact
in the Stroop Boffle episode. You know we love space
bag oh every time, every time.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Oh my, I would love to hear from an astronaut
that would oh wow, remarkable.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That would make my entire life.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I think.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
In the early twenty tens, a handful of American based
companies selling stroop Waffle launched. Some of them A lot
of them were people from like Belgium or the Netherlands
who had moved to America, but they were American based.
This is also when these cookies started appearing on more
and more American grocery shelves, and sometime around here is
(24:08):
when the stroop waffle was adopted by the cycling community
as an energy booster at large, because Dutch athletes had
been snacking out stroopwaffle for a while and they're a
big cycling country. From what I can understand, various companies
like Honey Singer now offer energy waffles, and yeah, I
(24:30):
did used to use them on long runs, mostly because
my mom gave them to me. Okay, I've got no
preference for or against. I was much more of a
gummy person, but I do still have some things. So
it was a big thing. Yeah. Oh, speaking of a
(24:50):
big thing, I love this. Okay. So streop waffle was
a technical challenge on The Great British Bakeoff in twenty seventeen,
and apparently it was a bit of a disaster. One
of the hosts said, did none of you get the carmel? Right?
(25:12):
And you can read other quotes from that episode. Honestly,
this whole thing, I've just been me quoting what I
read about it. But it wasn't good. They essentially the
hosts at the end were like, I don't even know
how we're going to judge this. It was also bad.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Wow, oh no, oh no. And they're the polite they're
the flight making competition.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I know, Oh, I have some friends who really love
this show, and I'll just hear about these disasters.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Oh yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
I'm always so curious. I couldn't do it.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I could absolutely not do it. That I would be
physically incapable, even after having read about this for a
couple of days.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I know, tried to make ring several times and I
knew how it should work, and it didn't really work
out for me. So yeah, sometimes especially without a recipe, man,
yeah mm hmm. And then in twenty eighteen, United Airlines
(26:16):
caused some anger online when they temporarily stopped offering stoopwoffle
after nine thirty to nine forty five AM for US
domestic flights. There press rely said it was in part
to quote appeal to a broad palate. Oh well. They
first started serving stoop waffle in partnership with Dolmans as
(26:40):
a free breakfast snack on domestic and Latin American flights.
In twenty sixteen, they resumed offering them and twenty nineteen
with all day availability. But when I tell you this
was a it was they had opinions. They were so.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Angry, They're like, how dare you take away our stop waffle. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yeah, and all this research kind of went into it.
It's kind of it's fascinating to me, honestly about how
to get Americans into it, and then they got into
it and were really mad I took it away.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, I think that. I think that since then, stroop
waffles and pretzels have been the two like free snack
options on United flights.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
The free part was key. Yeah, the free part was key.
They also, as a way to drum up excitement about
the stroop waffle, United shared a video about how to
eat it and it was with hot coffee or tea.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Yeah, social media because I think somebody who worked with
Dolmonds was trying to get it into the US and
they said, you're not even eating it correctly, tell them
how to eat it.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I love this. That's great, that's great. Yes. And then
American McDonald's offered a Dowmond's strip waffle mcflurry in twenty nineteen.
It was first market tested in Florida and was popular
enough that it soon was offered across the US. And
though it was pretty popular, it was only available for
(28:24):
a limited time.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah. Yeah, this was a vanilla soft serve with strip
waffle pieces and caramel sauce, and it was part of
like a larger marketing push at the time where McDonald's
was offering international menu items at US locations. The strip
waffle mcfluury was perhaps obviously originally from the Netherlands. And
(28:48):
speaking of Netherlands, McDonald's in twenty twenty four they offered
this limited time chicken and waffle sandwich made with a
crispy chicken filet, bacon stroop, waffle pieces, and caramel sauce
on on a bun.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
My brain just had them. I was just trying to
figure out Okay, yeah, sure, that sounds good.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it was like a lot.
It sounds like a lot. It sounds like a breakfast
sandwich to me.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
And I feel like I wouldn't eat for a solid
ten hours after I'd be like, well, I'm done here.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
I have to lay down after a couple of bites
of that.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
It's kind of breakfast where you're like, okay, and now
nap exactly.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Don't eat that on a day where you have to
get stuff done.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Oh yeah, okay, And then I have another science note
for y'all. And I had to I had to include
this so also so in twenty nine, a group of
(30:02):
astrophysics researchers led by a team out of Amsterdam presented
this new computational algorithm that they named stroopwaffle, which stands
for simulating the rare outcomes of populations with AIS for
efficient learning. Let me break that down for you, because
(30:27):
and like, okay, like I am not an astrophysicist, but
from what I understand, this algorithm helps select simulations that
researchers run to try to better understand big interactions among
objects in space, Like like, you know, you only have
so much time on the computer, right, so you want
to run the simulations that are going to be most
useful to you. And they were specifically trying to hone
(30:51):
in on simulations of binary star systems that die, you know,
at the end of the star's life and develop into
more compact objects and then merge, giving off gravitational waves
and visible light. And so yeah, they developed this algorithm.
They described it as working essentially like battleship, Like the
(31:11):
algorithm makes random guesses but then hones in on surrounding
data once it gets a hit.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Stroop waffle. I love how many times we've run into
this that they named. Scientists have named something after a food, Yeah,
just this beloved food.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
They were like, well, it's a little bit of a reach,
but isn't it funny if we don't make it work?
Isn't it dear and funny if we make it work?
And it is, and indeed was. I learned more about
astrophysics in order to tell you all about it, which
is no, no skin off my nose. That's a great
day for me. Also, yes, the Oxford English Dictionary added
(31:52):
stroop waffle in its December twenty twenty four update. It
says that the first attestation of streep waffle and English
happened in nineteen seventy four in an advertisement for streep
waffles in an Ohio newspaper. Yeah, officially part of the
(32:15):
English Dictionary as of now, oh or an English Dictionary
kind of a big one.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
But you know, yeah, they're choosing all their end of
the year words and I'm just baffled by Oh.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
It makes me so happy. Dictionary shenanigans are like, are
really exciting to me.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
I think that says a lot about who we are. Yeah, yes,
but we would love I think that's what we have
to save now, but we would love to hear from
listeners about streep waffle.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Oh yes, yeah, I can't even remember exactly when I
first encountered them. It was some time since I have
been in Atlanta, but that has been for like twenty
years now, so it's a bit of a span. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Oh, they're so good.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Cravings, the cravings, mm hmm. But yes, we would love
to hear from all of you. Uh, and we do
already have some listener mail for you, which we are
going to get into as soon as we get back
from one more quick break for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, And
we are back with a listener.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
May oh I hope, I hope you listeners write in
about street flufful.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah oh yeah he Do you have a recipe for
the oh heck, go ahead a favorite? Yes?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yes, yes. Oh. In the meantime, though, we have several
more messages from Halloween to get through. I get through
is wrong, because I oh, yeah, this is fantastic. Yes,
but here is one Jane wrote, I just had to
write in and tell you about the weirdest thing that
(34:22):
one of my kids got in their trick or treat bag.
This was in Canada between twenty five and thirty years ago.
It was weirder than the tiny New Testaments and the
tracks explaining the satanic evil of Halloween, and less welcome
than a toothbrush. Two veggie burger patties storebaught still and
(34:45):
vacuum sealed package. That kid did eventually become vegetarian. Perhaps
the treat giver had a premonition. However, at the time,
neither he nor his brother would eat the patties, so
eventually I did. They were fine if you like veggie burgers.
(35:09):
In honor of the season, I include pumpkin tas Pumpkin
carving is my absolute favorite thing about Halloween artistic expression,
followed by pumpkin pie. What's not to like? Hope you
have or had by the time you read this a
great Halloween. Okay, So these pumpkins are amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
They're glorious.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Oh they're so good.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
They're really cool. There's one with a portrait on it,
and then two face pumpkins, and one of the faces
is kind of made of bubbles in a weird, creepy
way that I've never seen on a pumpkin before.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yes, and then the other one has creepy long tea.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, that we're in some way constructed and attached separately,
I believe. And also a little nose, Yeah, I intruding nose.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Yeah, Pumpkin carving is great. I do think it's a
really fun, fantastic artistic expression. Yes. Oh, man, I usually
do the same too, So I'm I like looking at
other people.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, I never planned mine out, and then mine are
really structurally on sound, but this is yeah, I just
like get anxious and then just kind of do something
and then I'm like, it's a pumpkin. Don't look at me.
But yeah, these are beautiful. And also yeah, the veggie
burger thing absolutely sounds like someone who is like I
(36:36):
didn't I've run out of I don't have any treats.
What do you want here? Literally have something?
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Yes? Yes. The only other thing I can think of
is that it's somebody who is a big crusader for oh,
you should be a vegetarian here or some maybe, but
I've never heard of it. That is the first I
have heard of receiving a veggie broker on Halloween.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Same same, Yeah, no, I can't say that I've and
especially yeah, like like that was a minute ago too,
like that was a relatively rare item for someone to
have in their pantry refrigerator.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, I love it. You're lying less welcome than a toothbrush.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
I mean it's something you got to figure out what
to do with, for sure. But but hey, one of
one of the kids speaking vegetarians.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Yeah, yeah, they didn't need it.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, we're influenced, but I don't know, someone aw something yes,
h uh unrelated. Christie wrote, once again, your dunge of
this crab episode was serendipitous timing. Earlier that day, I
(38:06):
had been watching video of the annual Christmas Island red
Crab migration, and that got me wondering about the Christmas
Island red crabs. That got me wondering about crab recipes
in general, and I was reading about Uncle Robbie's crab
curry when the episode popped up on my feed. I
don't have much experience with crab. My mother is allergic
to shellfish, and my father wasn't interested in shellfish beyond
(38:29):
prawns shrimp, so they just didn't come up on my radar.
I've decided I need to rectify this. As for the
Christmas Island red crabs. They are large red land crabs
found only on Christmas Island, which is off the northwest
coast of Australia. Because of its isolation, there are several
animals found only there, but of course Europeans had to
(38:50):
bring in feral animals. The crabs live primarily on land,
but they still spawn their eggs in the sea, so
every year, after the first monsoon rains, literally millions of
crabs leave the rainforest and hills where they live, march
across the island to the sea and spawn. While some
crabs are lost each year to vehicles, rangers on the
(39:11):
island work to manage the migrations, so crabs only crossroads
in designated zones and close roads when the number of
crabs becomes too many. In any case, running over a
crab is not recommended. Their carapaces are tough and sharp,
so they will puncture tires and sometimes even damage the undercarriage.
(39:32):
And while they technically won't kill you, the crabs aren't edible.
There's very little meat for the size, and what meat
there is is very mushy and tastes like swamp water,
so they get to continue their annual migrations untroubled. By
the thought of being eaten. I doubt even Uncle Robbie
could make them taste good. He is a man of
the Uaija nation who was a very popular contestant on
(39:57):
Master Chef. You can follow him on Uncle Robbie cooks
on Instagram for spectacular scenery, hunting and fishing, and of
course recipes.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
I had never thought to look into whether you could
eat the migrating crabs. Thank you, thank you for looking
into this.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Fort yes, because I have seen this.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Oh it's horrifying as a human who's a little bit
horrified by crabs. There's so many, and they're creepy krawley,
and there's boo boo booping, and they're just so many
of them and they're all boot booping, and it's a lot.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
It's just a lot, it is. I do kind of
love though, that there are like here are there designated walkways.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
And yeah, and the amazing work of the rangers to
get a bunch of crabs to use the designated crab ways.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
I'm like, yeah, sure, that's great. I think it's fantastic.
But there's just so many interesting ways that we interact
with nature that.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
I'm like, huh, yeah, please use this grabble. Yeah, we
need to let you do your thing. We have built
a human civilization here, but please continue. Yeah yeah, yeah,
and I do hope to hear from you more now
(41:29):
because Australia does have a lot of good seafood.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
So if you haven't had a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Of experience, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you can find some, yeah,
let us know, let us know what you wind up thinking.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yes, oh please.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Oh and thanks for a recommendation for a schef to follow.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yeah, always always, Well. Thank you to these two listeners
for writing in. If you would like to write to us,
you can our email as hello atpod dot com. We're
also on social media.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
Saver pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Save is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my
Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
(42:24):
more good things are coming your way.
Hello, and welcome to save a productive of iHeartRadio. I'm
Annie Rethel and I'm.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Lauren Vogelbaum, and today we have an episode for you
about stroop Waffles.
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Yes, it's a fun one. It's a fun one.
Speaker 2 (00:20):
It is fun to say, fun all around.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And there is a fun reason for why we are
talking about this. Yes. Uh, it was just life Day.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
Happy Life Day, everyone, Happy Life Day. If you're unaware,
that's a Star Wars holiday for wookies.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Yes, but now it's for all of us.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Oh, now, it's for all of us.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Okay, good.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:49):
It takes place on November seventeenth, and it is based
on the Star Wars Holiday special, which I believe you still.
Speaker 2 (00:56):
Haven't seen, Laura, I have not. I have seen b
Arthur's number are now.
Speaker 1 (01:00):
But oh good, that's one of the best parts. It
is difficult to explain and wild and in my personal opinion,
worth experiencing at least once. But if you hate me afterwards,
I wouldn't blame you for it. It's notoriously bad.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Yeah. This was a mid seventies television holiday special.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
That was It was a variety show.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
It was interestingly put together.
Speaker 1 (01:32):
I watched it for a life day as always, and
even so after all these years, I was struck by
how how bizarre and strange it really is.
Speaker 2 (01:47):
That's great, yeah or something?
Speaker 1 (01:52):
Yeah, yeah, I actually didn't watch it. I knew, I
knew about the reputation of it for a long time,
but I didn't watch it until the pandemic, and I
have to say.
Speaker 2 (02:07):
Exceeded exceeded expectations.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
Yes, yep, I knew it was going to be strange,
and it was even stranger than I could have imagined
could ever been to words. Also, this is kind of
where you get Boba fet. He appeared previously in a parade,
but this is where most found about Boba fet. And
(02:30):
the really funny thing is you can't get it anywhere.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
Oh yeah, No, this is not what Disney wants you
to be watching.
Speaker 1 (02:36):
No, they've only released certain segments of it, but you
can still find it on YouTube. And trust me, I
saved a copy, so no one will be taking this
from me physical media forever. Yes, yes, And if you
want to go listen to over on stuff. When I
(02:56):
told you, we've done several episodes about what happened here.
But it was a really interesting time for Star Wars
because it was kind of the wild West.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
They were like, let's try this. People like this the studio.
The studio's not giving us money, No one's giving us support.
What if we try all of these things. It's a
fascinating history of how it happened, and it's a fascinating
thing to watch.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
Well, I look forward to doing that someday.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
I You're welcome, and I'm sorry. I personally loved it.
But one of the reasons, one of the reasons we
chose our food topic for today. It's basically Star Wars Christmas,
and so there's a some cooking scenes in it, and
(03:55):
we were trying to pick a topic for Life Day
and I was thinking of a couple of things we
haven't covered yet, and there's there's wookie cookies or wookie
cookies as they kind of say, but so we were
looking for a cookie.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, and a striop waffle has been on our list
for a while. I believe a few of you have
suggested it and I didn't right in the top here
who that was, So if it was you, thank you. Also,
Oh heck, they're so delicious. I love a stroop waffle. Annie,
you dislike caramel?
Speaker 1 (04:29):
Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (04:32):
How do you, how do you feel like? I like,
I think that you said that you have consumed at
least one like because you used to be really big
into running and like distance running.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Yes, so I do. I have had the energy cookie
as they're often called, that you athletes consume for long
distance are hard workouts. To be honest, most of the
things I eat during that period, I just don't.
Speaker 2 (05:06):
You're not thinking about them as food at all. You're
just like, this is literally a calorie to consume so
that I can continue doing this thing that I am doing.
Speaker 1 (05:17):
Yeah, it's a very it's been one hour. You need
this much energy and it doesn't taste like anything to me.
It's just can I swallow it? Not tope while I'm
still running. But I have had When I was in Belgium,
I had stoop waffle. I don't recall hating it.
Speaker 2 (05:43):
Okay, that's good, I'm glad.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
Yeah I don't. I kind of didn't even know Kramel
was involved. Makes me wonder if I got some kind
of different variety. But it's quite possible I had it
and it just was minimal or who knows.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I still think that your problem with caramel is like
the fake caramel flavor that Yeah, that like inexpensive candy
bars put into that kind of thing, but that that
that is that is just this is not backed by
any kind of scientific study.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
More research is necessary. I believe that that is a
strong possibility. I don't remember strongly disliking it, but I
also didn't seek it out. I think I had it
like the one incident. Yeah, h well, maybe future research
(06:40):
is needed, but for now, you can see our past
cookie episodes, of which we do have many pizzelle I
would say specifically relates to this one. Absolutely waffles.
Speaker 2 (06:54):
Yeah, yeah, we haven't done a full waffle episode, but
we did do one about Ego brand and it does
go into the history of waffles and waffle machines a
decent thing.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Yeah, that was a that was a headache inducing rabbit
hole for me. I have to say on this one.
Oh yeah, but I guess that brings us to our
question absolutely stop waffles. What are they?
Speaker 2 (07:30):
Well, strip waffles are a type of sandwich cookie made
from a thin, crispy waffle cut in half the long
way or to extra thin waffles, with a also thin feeling
of chewy, soft caramel in the middle. The waffle batter
and or the caramel. Are typically flavored with vanilla and
(07:51):
a little bit of cinnamon, giving you this like simple
but really rich, buttery, toasty, warm flavor and in a
really craveable, like crisp, tender, chewy sort of texture. They're
typically round, super thin, like maybe maybe half a centimeter
like a quarter of an inch thick, and about the
(08:12):
diameter of the top of a coffee mug, maybe like
three inches across, that's about eight centimeters or so, though
they can come in jumbo or mini sizes. And I
used a coffee mug as a reference here because they
are often eaten as a snack alongside coffee or tea,
and a popular thing to do is to heat them
up a little bit by by balancing the cookie on
(08:35):
top of your cup for a minute or two and
thus letting the caramel soften before you eat it. And oh,
they're so they're so nice. They're so nice. They're just
this like crispy, chewy, melty with like a with like
a nice sweet, rich flavor, without feeling heavy, almost more
(08:59):
like a like a candy bar, like a delicate candy
bar than a cookie. They're like they're like putting on
a sweatshirt warm from the dryer.
Speaker 4 (09:11):
Oh.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Now, see, this is something that some companies who make
stup waffle have been very outspoken about, is this is
how you eat it. And I definitely know the streep
waffle I had. I didn't do this, I didn't put
it on the coffee mug or whatever. But it sounds
delightful like that kind of melty.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
Yeah I haven't, I haven't even tried doing that, but
but still like, I don't know, but I also adore caramel.
Speaker 5 (09:40):
So.
Speaker 1 (09:41):
Kind of reminds me of Tim Tims. You remember the
Tim Tims. Yeah, sure, having this alternate this is how
you eat it warmed up. People have really strong opinions
about that.
Speaker 2 (09:52):
Oh absolutely, Oh my goodness they do. Huh well, okay,
so so waffles, in case you weren't aware, are a
type of baked good made by cooking a batter super
briefly between two hot plates and strip waffle batter is
usually rich with eggs and butter and sugar. Usually includes
(10:14):
a yeast rising as well for airiness. It's a fairly
thick dough, more and more like a cookie dough. The
plates for stroop waffles typically have a three dimensional crosshatch pattern,
forming little sunken squares in the final waffle. The hot
plates give them a good golden brown on the outside,
and the brief cooking time lets the inside stay soft.
(10:36):
The waffles used for stroop waffles are on the thin side.
If you're using two for the sandwich, you are looking
at a waffle iron that produces the thickness of a pizzelle.
If you're splitting a single waffle to make the cookie,
you got to make that horizontal cut as soon as
it comes off the iron so that the waffle is
still soft and pliable. And it does help, I understand
(10:57):
to use a round cookie cutter to punch out and
even circle even if you already have a circular waffle,
just to give you like an edge to work with
as you cut. Yeah anyway, Soft caramel on the same hand,
it's on the same cookie.
Speaker 1 (11:12):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Sure is a candy that's made by cooking sugar and
some kind of fatty dairy or dairy substitute together until
the mixture reaches the soft ball stage, meaning that it'll
have thickened up and developed like lovely toasty flavors, but
will still be chewy, not not hard. When it cools
to room temperature. The dairy in question can be cream, milk, butter,
(11:36):
or a combination of the three. The heat will also
develop some toasty flavors in the dairy. Sugars too. Substitutes
like coconut products will lend a bit of a different flavor,
which might be what you're going for. I don't know.
The striup waffle literally means syrup waffle in Dutch and
(11:58):
syrup because the carnal will be a syrupy liquid when
it's hot, which is the state that you want it
in when you pour it over your waffles to make
sandwich cookie.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:10):
Some classic recipes for this do call for things like
honey or molasses in the caramel, which add a bit
of flavoring but also help the caramel syrup stay stable.
Like sugar kind of wants to be a crystal and
you have to be real careful when you're cooking it
or it will recrystallize in the pan. These days, corn
syrup is a cheaper and more neutrally flavored substitute for
(12:34):
those things. In the Netherlands, which is where striop waffles
are from, I think that that original vanilla cinnamon flavor
is the go to option, but these days and definitely
around the US, there are all kinds of flavors made
by adding ingredients to often the waffle, sometimes the filling,
(12:55):
sometimes both. I've seen yes, honey coffee or espresso, fig maple, chocolate, peanut, butter,
strawberry cookies, and cream snickerdoodle birthday cake. You can also
dip or half dip a stop waffle in chocolate and
add crumbles of candy or other cookies, cookies on cookies,
(13:18):
I love it, and yeah. A stoop waffle can be
purchased from bakeries and street vendors in specifically in the Netherlands,
served up in just like a paper napkin, but are
also manufactured and packaged both singly and in like stacks.
Manufacturers also make mini sizes that come in bags and
(13:39):
yeah yeah. They are often served as a cafe snack
around the Netherlands, but can be eaten anytime or incorporated
into other desserts, like as a topping for ice cream,
or chopped up as an ingredient in cakes or like
layered puddings or what have you. And as we alluded
to earlier, they have also been picked up endurance workout
(14:01):
communities in the US and maybe elsewhere y'all write in
as like a mid exercise snack. Some companies do specifically
produce like lower sugar or higher fiber or whatever, stoop
waffles for that purpose.
Speaker 1 (14:18):
Oh my goodness, future episode, not for today. But what
about the nutrition.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
Ah that depends can be pretty sugary, you can be
pretty fatty. Cookies, generally speaking, are treats, and treats are nice.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
Treats are nice, and we all deserve a treat sometimes.
Oh we do, yes, well, we do have some numbers
for you.
Speaker 2 (14:45):
We do so. In the Netherlands, twenty two million packets
of stroop waffles are sold every year, which works out
to about twenty stroop waffles per capita. Companies that make
stroop waffle manufacturing equipment, which is a thing, say that
(15:10):
this equipment is capable of producing up to twenty five
thousand stroop waffles per hour. September thirtieth is World stroop
Waffle Day, which is a thing that I think was
started by the famous Dutch producer Dolmonds and the Guinness
(15:37):
record for the largest stroop waffle was achieved in Guda
in the Netherlands in twenty thirteen. It measured two point
four to seven meters across, which is eight point one feet,
and involved sixty kilos of dough, fifteen kilos of caramel,
and a baking iron that weighed three thousand kilos and
(15:59):
had to be hoisted by a crane. I didn't I
didn't translate that into pounds. You can imagine it's heavy.
The team planned for a year and a half to
pull this off.
Speaker 1 (16:13):
That is both impressive and, as I've said before, a
lot of these records make me nervous. Actually, I don't
know why specifically.
Speaker 2 (16:24):
I think I think both of us are like like
run towards nervousness and chet. Yeah, and there's like a
lot of safety concerns that I have. And I'm just
like Adgie's Adgie's watch out guys, Like there's like my
little that's very nice.
Speaker 1 (16:41):
I'm more like the what if the cookie came to
life and now I've got to deal with an eight
foot whatever cookie.
Speaker 2 (16:48):
I mean, both both of these are you know, we're
just we're just looking out. We're we're just looking out
for everyone.
Speaker 1 (16:55):
More research is needed.
Speaker 2 (17:00):
Oh no, well, okay, we don't spoiler alert. We don't
have any cookies coming to life here in the history section.
But we do have quite a history for you, and
we are going to get into that as soon as
we get back from a quick break for a word
from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank you sponsor, Yes,
(17:32):
thank you. Okay, So you can see our ego episode
for more about this. But briefly, waffles in general, meaning
thin cakes formed and cooked between metal plates, go back
to ancient Greece at least they developed during medieval times
into wafers with religious iconography produced by the Catholic Church,
(17:54):
then in the thirteen hundreds or so, into recipes that
we would like more or less recognize today. In the Netherlands.
Around that time, bakers started using rectangular plates forged with
a grid pattern, although historians aren't sure whether this was
like a decorative choice or a practical matter for the blacksmiths,
(18:14):
or like a practical request from the baker's for a
design with a greater surface area, like letting the waffles
get more crisper faster. But at any rate, yet they
had like a waffle baker's guild and everything by around
the thirteen hundreds.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Yes, and according to sources, stoop waffle were a Dutch
creation cir the late seventeen hundreds or early eighteen hundreds.
They were created in the Dutch town of Howda or
an American Guda and yes, the namesake of the cheese Guda,
and were originally called Gudha's waffle. They were fairly cheap
(18:54):
and popular at events like festivals, and Dutch Waffle Company
reports that one hundred bakers in Gouda were making them
by the end of the eighteen hundreds, and they soon
spread to neighboring cities, in part because of these festivals,
where people would visit have one.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
And they'd be like, oh, yeah, that thing.
Speaker 1 (19:14):
There is of course a popular story that stroop waffle
were created thanks to bakers not wanting to waste leftover
crumbs from their baking. So these crumbs were really dry.
How did the bakers get them to stick together? Syrup
and so the resulting cookies were pretty cheap and easy
(19:39):
to make it first, but over time bakers added in flour, sugar,
and butter. Some sources specifically credit baker Girard Campuisen and
say that he originally sold these very cheaply. His original
attempts of coalescing these leftover bakery bits didn't work out,
(20:00):
he added syrup and molasses. His bakery first opened in
eighteen ten. In The first known written recipe for stoup
roffel dates back to eighteen forty, so it is possible,
depending on which version of the story you read, this
might have been the result of an accident or failed
attempt to make a wafer with a waffle iron. The
(20:23):
wafer crumbled into pieces, so he got the idea to
use a thick sweetener like sugar beet molasses to keep
the crumbs together. Mystery's history. Modern waffle and pizzelle irons
were invented in the eighteen hundreds.
Speaker 2 (20:41):
Yes and yeah, right, mystery's history. But certainly once stoup
waffles started catching on, they were helped out by this
particular type of flour. This Dutch cake flour made from
a soft wheat grown in regions along the North Sea
(21:02):
called zeus bloom. Apologies from my Dutch throughout this episode,
but yes, it's a little lower in proteins including gluten
than many other flowers, which means that it bakes up
more crispy than chewy, which helps give you that final
texture in a strip waffle.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yes, and that brings us to another big name in
the stroop waffle story. Hermanus Dolmonds opened a small family
bakery selling stroopwaffle in nineteen oh four, and nowadays Damons
is one of the biggest names of stroop waffle, perhaps
particularly abroad because they were one of the first to
(21:46):
start exporting their products. According to the company website, Dowmond's
motto the person was when you indulge.
Speaker 2 (21:55):
Do it right, ooh, all right, yeah.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
Stroopwaffle commercial prediction really got underway in the twentieth century.
There were multiple factories churning them out of how To
or Guda by nineteen sixty.
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Yeah, I read as many as seventeen around that time,
though those have since consolidated to around four I think.
And speaking of more recent times, a Dutch astronaut and
physician by the name of Andre Kuiper's took stroop waffles
with him on at least one of his two missions
(22:33):
to the International Space Station in the early two thousands.
His first mission was eleven days in two thousand and four,
his second was five months, launching in December of twenty eleven,
and during that second one he definitely brought stroop waffles,
and also negotiated to bring ten kilos of Guda, specifically
(22:53):
Old Amsterdam brand to share with his colleagues there. He
wrote in an ESA blog, a European Space agency blog,
that they were so well fed with like snacks and
desserts and hot meals every day that everyone had to
watch their weight to avoid like throwing off station movement
calculations while they were up there. And I am not
sure exactly how much of this was a joke, but
(23:17):
I love it. That's fantastic. We got a space fact
in the Stroop Boffle episode. You know we love space
bag oh every time, every time.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
Oh my, I would love to hear from an astronaut
that would oh wow, remarkable.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
That would make my entire life.
Speaker 1 (23:39):
I think.
Speaker 2 (23:44):
So.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
In the early twenty tens, a handful of American based
companies selling stroop Waffle launched. Some of them A lot
of them were people from like Belgium or the Netherlands
who had moved to America, but they were American based.
This is also when these cookies started appearing on more
and more American grocery shelves, and sometime around here is
(24:08):
when the stroop waffle was adopted by the cycling community
as an energy booster at large, because Dutch athletes had
been snacking out stroopwaffle for a while and they're a
big cycling country. From what I can understand, various companies
like Honey Singer now offer energy waffles, and yeah, I
(24:30):
did used to use them on long runs, mostly because
my mom gave them to me. Okay, I've got no
preference for or against. I was much more of a
gummy person, but I do still have some things. So
it was a big thing. Yeah. Oh, speaking of a
(24:50):
big thing, I love this. Okay. So streop waffle was
a technical challenge on The Great British Bakeoff in twenty seventeen,
and apparently it was a bit of a disaster. One
of the hosts said, did none of you get the carmel? Right?
(25:12):
And you can read other quotes from that episode. Honestly,
this whole thing, I've just been me quoting what I
read about it. But it wasn't good. They essentially the
hosts at the end were like, I don't even know
how we're going to judge this. It was also bad.
Speaker 2 (25:27):
Wow, oh no, oh no. And they're the polite they're
the flight making competition.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
I know, Oh, I have some friends who really love
this show, and I'll just hear about these disasters.
Speaker 2 (25:41):
Oh yeah, yeah, and.
Speaker 1 (25:43):
I'm always so curious. I couldn't do it.
Speaker 2 (25:47):
I could absolutely not do it. That I would be
physically incapable, even after having read about this for a
couple of days.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
I know, tried to make ring several times and I
knew how it should work, and it didn't really work
out for me. So yeah, sometimes especially without a recipe, man,
yeah mm hmm. And then in twenty eighteen, United Airlines
(26:16):
caused some anger online when they temporarily stopped offering stoopwoffle
after nine thirty to nine forty five AM for US
domestic flights. There press rely said it was in part
to quote appeal to a broad palate. Oh well. They
first started serving stoop waffle in partnership with Dolmans as
(26:40):
a free breakfast snack on domestic and Latin American flights.
In twenty sixteen, they resumed offering them and twenty nineteen
with all day availability. But when I tell you this
was a it was they had opinions. They were so.
Speaker 2 (26:56):
Angry, They're like, how dare you take away our stop waffle. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (27:02):
Yeah, and all this research kind of went into it.
It's kind of it's fascinating to me, honestly about how
to get Americans into it, and then they got into
it and were really mad I took it away.
Speaker 2 (27:17):
Yeah, I think that. I think that since then, stroop
waffles and pretzels have been the two like free snack
options on United flights.
Speaker 1 (27:27):
The free part was key. Yeah, the free part was key.
They also, as a way to drum up excitement about
the stroop waffle, United shared a video about how to
eat it and it was with hot coffee or tea.
Speaker 4 (27:46):
Yeah, social media because I think somebody who worked with
Dolmonds was trying to get it into the US and
they said, you're not even eating it correctly, tell them
how to eat it.
Speaker 1 (28:02):
I love this. That's great, that's great. Yes. And then
American McDonald's offered a Dowmond's strip waffle mcflurry in twenty nineteen.
It was first market tested in Florida and was popular
enough that it soon was offered across the US. And
though it was pretty popular, it was only available for
(28:24):
a limited time.
Speaker 2 (28:26):
Yeah. Yeah, this was a vanilla soft serve with strip
waffle pieces and caramel sauce, and it was part of
like a larger marketing push at the time where McDonald's
was offering international menu items at US locations. The strip
waffle mcfluury was perhaps obviously originally from the Netherlands. And
(28:48):
speaking of Netherlands, McDonald's in twenty twenty four they offered
this limited time chicken and waffle sandwich made with a
crispy chicken filet, bacon stroop, waffle pieces, and caramel sauce
on on a bun.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
My brain just had them. I was just trying to
figure out Okay, yeah, sure, that sounds good.
Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah, yeah, it sounds like it was like a lot.
It sounds like a lot. It sounds like a breakfast
sandwich to me.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:27):
And I feel like I wouldn't eat for a solid
ten hours after I'd be like, well, I'm done here.
Speaker 1 (29:32):
I have to lay down after a couple of bites
of that.
Speaker 2 (29:36):
It's kind of breakfast where you're like, okay, and now
nap exactly.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Don't eat that on a day where you have to
get stuff done.
Speaker 2 (29:42):
Oh yeah, okay, And then I have another science note
for y'all. And I had to I had to include
this so also so in twenty nine, a group of
(30:02):
astrophysics researchers led by a team out of Amsterdam presented
this new computational algorithm that they named stroopwaffle, which stands
for simulating the rare outcomes of populations with AIS for
efficient learning. Let me break that down for you, because
(30:27):
and like, okay, like I am not an astrophysicist, but
from what I understand, this algorithm helps select simulations that
researchers run to try to better understand big interactions among
objects in space, Like like, you know, you only have
so much time on the computer, right, so you want
to run the simulations that are going to be most
useful to you. And they were specifically trying to hone
(30:51):
in on simulations of binary star systems that die, you know,
at the end of the star's life and develop into
more compact objects and then merge, giving off gravitational waves
and visible light. And so yeah, they developed this algorithm.
They described it as working essentially like battleship, Like the
(31:11):
algorithm makes random guesses but then hones in on surrounding
data once it gets a hit.
Speaker 1 (31:16):
Stroop waffle. I love how many times we've run into
this that they named. Scientists have named something after a food, Yeah,
just this beloved food.
Speaker 2 (31:29):
They were like, well, it's a little bit of a reach,
but isn't it funny if we don't make it work?
Isn't it dear and funny if we make it work?
And it is, and indeed was. I learned more about
astrophysics in order to tell you all about it, which
is no, no skin off my nose. That's a great
day for me. Also, yes, the Oxford English Dictionary added
(31:52):
stroop waffle in its December twenty twenty four update. It
says that the first attestation of streep waffle and English
happened in nineteen seventy four in an advertisement for streep
waffles in an Ohio newspaper. Yeah, officially part of the
(32:15):
English Dictionary as of now, oh or an English Dictionary
kind of a big one.
Speaker 1 (32:25):
But you know, yeah, they're choosing all their end of
the year words and I'm just baffled by Oh.
Speaker 4 (32:33):
I love it.
Speaker 2 (32:33):
It makes me so happy. Dictionary shenanigans are like, are
really exciting to me.
Speaker 1 (32:41):
I think that says a lot about who we are. Yeah, yes,
but we would love I think that's what we have
to save now, but we would love to hear from
listeners about streep waffle.
Speaker 2 (32:54):
Oh yes, yeah, I can't even remember exactly when I
first encountered them. It was some time since I have
been in Atlanta, but that has been for like twenty
years now, so it's a bit of a span. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (33:09):
Oh, they're so good.
Speaker 2 (33:10):
Cravings, the cravings, mm hmm. But yes, we would love
to hear from all of you. Uh, and we do
already have some listener mail for you, which we are
going to get into as soon as we get back
from one more quick break for a word from our sponsors.
Speaker 1 (33:34):
And we're back. Thank you, sponsor, Yes, thank you, And
we are back with a listener.
Speaker 5 (33:41):
May oh I hope, I hope you listeners write in
about street flufful.
Speaker 2 (33:56):
Yeah oh yeah he Do you have a recipe for
the oh heck, go ahead a favorite? Yes?
Speaker 1 (34:02):
Yes, yes. Oh. In the meantime, though, we have several
more messages from Halloween to get through. I get through
is wrong, because I oh, yeah, this is fantastic. Yes,
but here is one Jane wrote, I just had to
write in and tell you about the weirdest thing that
(34:22):
one of my kids got in their trick or treat bag.
This was in Canada between twenty five and thirty years ago.
It was weirder than the tiny New Testaments and the
tracks explaining the satanic evil of Halloween, and less welcome
than a toothbrush. Two veggie burger patties storebaught still and
(34:45):
vacuum sealed package. That kid did eventually become vegetarian. Perhaps
the treat giver had a premonition. However, at the time,
neither he nor his brother would eat the patties, so
eventually I did. They were fine if you like veggie burgers.
(35:09):
In honor of the season, I include pumpkin tas Pumpkin
carving is my absolute favorite thing about Halloween artistic expression,
followed by pumpkin pie. What's not to like? Hope you
have or had by the time you read this a
great Halloween. Okay, So these pumpkins are amazing.
Speaker 2 (35:31):
They're glorious.
Speaker 1 (35:32):
Oh they're so good.
Speaker 2 (35:34):
They're really cool. There's one with a portrait on it,
and then two face pumpkins, and one of the faces
is kind of made of bubbles in a weird, creepy
way that I've never seen on a pumpkin before.
Speaker 1 (35:47):
Yes, and then the other one has creepy long tea.
Speaker 2 (35:52):
Yeah, that we're in some way constructed and attached separately,
I believe. And also a little nose, Yeah, I intruding nose.
Speaker 1 (36:03):
Yeah, Pumpkin carving is great. I do think it's a
really fun, fantastic artistic expression. Yes. Oh, man, I usually
do the same too, So I'm I like looking at
other people.
Speaker 2 (36:16):
Yeah, I never planned mine out, and then mine are
really structurally on sound, but this is yeah, I just
like get anxious and then just kind of do something
and then I'm like, it's a pumpkin. Don't look at me.
But yeah, these are beautiful. And also yeah, the veggie
burger thing absolutely sounds like someone who is like I
(36:36):
didn't I've run out of I don't have any treats.
What do you want here? Literally have something?
Speaker 1 (36:42):
Yes? Yes. The only other thing I can think of
is that it's somebody who is a big crusader for oh,
you should be a vegetarian here or some maybe, but
I've never heard of it. That is the first I
have heard of receiving a veggie broker on Halloween.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Same same, Yeah, no, I can't say that I've and
especially yeah, like like that was a minute ago too,
like that was a relatively rare item for someone to
have in their pantry refrigerator.
Speaker 1 (37:24):
Yeah, I love it. You're lying less welcome than a toothbrush.
Speaker 5 (37:31):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (37:31):
I mean it's something you got to figure out what
to do with, for sure. But but hey, one of
one of the kids speaking vegetarians.
Speaker 4 (37:40):
Yeah, yeah, they didn't need it.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, we're influenced, but I don't know, someone aw something yes,
h uh unrelated. Christie wrote, once again, your dunge of
this crab episode was serendipitous timing. Earlier that day, I
(38:06):
had been watching video of the annual Christmas Island red
Crab migration, and that got me wondering about the Christmas
Island red crabs. That got me wondering about crab recipes
in general, and I was reading about Uncle Robbie's crab
curry when the episode popped up on my feed. I
don't have much experience with crab. My mother is allergic
to shellfish, and my father wasn't interested in shellfish beyond
(38:29):
prawns shrimp, so they just didn't come up on my radar.
I've decided I need to rectify this. As for the
Christmas Island red crabs. They are large red land crabs
found only on Christmas Island, which is off the northwest
coast of Australia. Because of its isolation, there are several
animals found only there, but of course Europeans had to
(38:50):
bring in feral animals. The crabs live primarily on land,
but they still spawn their eggs in the sea, so
every year, after the first monsoon rains, literally millions of
crabs leave the rainforest and hills where they live, march
across the island to the sea and spawn. While some
crabs are lost each year to vehicles, rangers on the
(39:11):
island work to manage the migrations, so crabs only crossroads
in designated zones and close roads when the number of
crabs becomes too many. In any case, running over a
crab is not recommended. Their carapaces are tough and sharp,
so they will puncture tires and sometimes even damage the undercarriage.
(39:32):
And while they technically won't kill you, the crabs aren't edible.
There's very little meat for the size, and what meat
there is is very mushy and tastes like swamp water,
so they get to continue their annual migrations untroubled. By
the thought of being eaten. I doubt even Uncle Robbie
could make them taste good. He is a man of
the Uaija nation who was a very popular contestant on
(39:57):
Master Chef. You can follow him on Uncle Robbie cooks
on Instagram for spectacular scenery, hunting and fishing, and of
course recipes.
Speaker 1 (40:10):
I love this.
Speaker 2 (40:12):
I had never thought to look into whether you could
eat the migrating crabs. Thank you, thank you for looking
into this.
Speaker 1 (40:22):
Fort yes, because I have seen this.
Speaker 2 (40:27):
Oh it's horrifying as a human who's a little bit
horrified by crabs. There's so many, and they're creepy krawley,
and there's boo boo booping, and they're just so many
of them and they're all boot booping, and it's a lot.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
It's just a lot, it is. I do kind of
love though, that there are like here are there designated walkways.
Speaker 2 (40:49):
And yeah, and the amazing work of the rangers to
get a bunch of crabs to use the designated crab ways.
Speaker 1 (40:57):
I'm like, yeah, sure, that's great. I think it's fantastic.
But there's just so many interesting ways that we interact
with nature that.
Speaker 2 (41:08):
I'm like, huh, yeah, please use this grabble. Yeah, we
need to let you do your thing. We have built
a human civilization here, but please continue. Yeah yeah, yeah,
and I do hope to hear from you more now
(41:29):
because Australia does have a lot of good seafood.
Speaker 1 (41:33):
So if you haven't had a lot.
Speaker 2 (41:36):
Of experience, yeah, yeah, yeah, if you can find some, yeah,
let us know, let us know what you wind up thinking.
Speaker 1 (41:43):
Yes, oh please.
Speaker 2 (41:46):
Oh and thanks for a recommendation for a schef to follow.
Speaker 1 (41:49):
Yeah, always always, Well. Thank you to these two listeners
for writing in. If you would like to write to us,
you can our email as hello atpod dot com. We're
also on social media.
Speaker 2 (42:03):
You can find us on Instagram and blue Sky at
Saver pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Save is a production of iHeartRadio. For more podcasts my
Heart Radio, you can visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Thanks as
always to our super producers Dylan Fagan and Andrew Howard.
Thanks to you for listening, and we hope that lots
(42:24):
more good things are coming your way.
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
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