Latest news with #WaffleDay
Local Sweden
25-03-2025
- General
- Local Sweden
Swedish word of the day: våffla
The Swedish word våffla has existed in written Swedish since at least 1642. It's related to the Dutch word wafel, which in turn comes from the German word Wabe , meaning honeycomb. Honeycombs and waffles both have similar patterns ( Wabe comes from a term meaning "to weave" in Middle High German) which is presumably how the sweet treat got its name. Don't miss any of our Swedish words and expressions of the day by downloading The Local's app (available on Apple and Android ) and then selecting the Swedish Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button Swedish waffles are usually thin and crispy, cooked in a waffle iron ( våffeljärn ) which makes five or six heart-shaped waffles at once. Unlike Belgian-style waffles, they don't usually contain eggs or yeast. Advertisement Standard waffle toppings are cream and jam or fresh berries, while savoury toppings like sour cream, red onion and fish roe are also popular. The word våffla is also used to refer to the type of ice cream cones made of wafers, which have a similar chequered texture. If you're wondering why they're served on March 25th, the answer is simple. March 25th is the Christian holiday of Annunciation, known in Swedish as Vårfrudagen , Our Lady's Day, which sounds suspiciously like the Swedish for Waffle Day, Våffeldagen . Example sentences: Ska vi äta våfflor till kvällsmat? Det är Våffeldagen idag ju. Should we have waffles for dinner? It's Waffle Day today, after all. Vill du ha strut eller våffla? Do you want a normal ice cream cone or a waffle cone? Villa, Volvo, Vovve: The Local's Word Guide to Swedish Life, written by The Local's journalists, is available to order. Head to to read more about it. It is also possible to buy your copy from Amazon US , Amazon UK , Bokus or Adlibris .
Local Sweden
25-03-2025
- General
- Local Sweden
Swedish Fika Calendar: What do waffles have to do with the Virgin Mary?
Today, it's March 25th. Particularly devout Christians may know it as the Feast of the Annunciation, or the day the archangel Gabriel visited the Virgin Mary and told her that she would be the mother of Jesus Christ. It's a particularly major holiday in the Catholic, Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and Lutheran churches, and is usually celebrated with special services and feasts. But what does all that have to do with waffles? And why is it a big day in Sweden, where so few people are actually practising Christians? Well, as you may have guessed, it's not because the Virgin Mary was particularly fond of eating waffles. Instead, the tradition is all due to a mispronunciation. The Swedish name for the Christian holiday is Vårfrudagen or Our Lady Day, which – especially when you have a mouthful of waffle – sounds just like Waffle Day ( Våffeldagen ). Advertisement Swedes love dedicating specific days to sweet treats (if they didn't then we wouldn't have been able to write an entire newsletter about them all), so they welcomed the mispronunciation as an opportunity to spend an ordinary day in March eating waffles. Swedish waffles are thin and crispy, unlike the thicker, more cake-like Belgian or American style waffles, and are often enjoyed with cream and jam, berries, or sometimes plain with no topping at all. If you fancy eating waffles today, we have a couple of recipes for you here, courtesy of Swedish food writer John Duxbury. Make sure you get the right kind of waffle maker – you want thin, heart-shaped waffles rather than thick square or round waffles. We've also got a couple of recipes for jams you can top your waffles with. It's a bit early for fresh seasonal berries in Sweden, but you should be able to use frozen fruit for some of them. Here's a recipe for spiced berry compote , and here's one for strawberry and rhubarb jam. Advertisement If you want a slightly less traditional idea for a waffle topping, I quite like a savoury version topped with sour cream, red onion, dill and roe. If the idea of eating fish eggs doesn't appeal, you can also buy a vegetarian alternative made from seaweed known as tångkaviar. This results in a waffle similar to the traditional Swedish potato pancakes known as rårakor . You can always follow your savoury waffle main course with a sweet one for dessert! We also spoke about Waffle Day in an episode of our Sweden in Focus podcast back in 2024. Sign up here to receive an email alert every time we publish a new instalment of the Fika Calendar on the site – and if you're a Membership+ subscriber you will receive the full article straight to your inbox. You can expect to receive the newsletter on every important Swedish fika day worth trying, on average two times a month.
