Father’s Day: Waffles Over Ties

Oh, Father’s Day

In spite of the myth, I don’t think my husband ever received a tie for Father’s Day. In fact, it was always difficult to get him anything, as he consistently  bought exactly what he wanted before any of us could purchase it and get the gift wrapped. I used to try to read the smoke signals sent by wine gurus and get an interesting wine that he had not tried or heard of, but to no avail.  My daughters did score a couple of literary hits with the writings of Dave Barry or Carl Hiassen.  We still have them on the bookshelf, and their male humor has stood the test of time. But ultimately, the two girls decided that they would recognize the day by picking out a film and taking him to a movie theater (I was allowed to come along).  This became a Pollard family tradition, broken only when they both moved to Europe. The low point in Father’s Day Films was Staying Alive, At the end of the film, The Father In Question confessed that he hated musicals. But the high point was Superman III in which we were introduced to the hilarity of Richard Pryor. In fact, certain among us feel that he made the film, and that the family would watch anything he was in,  especially his more cutting-edge stand-up performances with their bitter social commentary.

The Waffle Contest

The other part of the Father’s Day ritual was The Breakfast To Make Dad Happy. We had a few trials with French Toast, Apple Fritters, Popovers and Muffins (he nixed the muffins after a couple of tries). The all-time winner was the waffle recipe from Gaston Lenotre’s Desserts and Pastries. It is from one of those AOOP books(Alas Out Of Print) which really is a shame, because I learned a lot of French pastry fundamentals from this book.  His Buche De Noel is still my go-to recipe every Christmas. While reading the latest book by Bill Buford, Dirt, I found out that Michel Richard had tested and written many of the recipes for this book when he worked for Gaston Lenotre. So there were many waffle-making experiments in our house over the years, and all of them were okay to pretty good. And yes, I had made the waffle recipe Paul Bocuse attributed to his grandmother; it doesn’t come close to Lenotre’s. Obviously, Paul’s grandmother should have met Gaston’s grandmother – or perhaps Michel Richard’s.  In the end, The Father In Question preferred the Lenotre recipe (as did other non-voting members of the family) to the more famous Bocuse one on the internet. Father’s Day main dish — check.

A Waffle Iron Discussion

If you are a KD reader of long standing, you already know that I loathe chemically produced non-stick surfaces. I may change my mind with some of the newer ones coming out of the EU, as their regulations are stiffer than ours. But that’s not a promise.  And you can still purchase waffle makers  that are without the non-stick finish. The one that I have had for over thirty years was made by Jotul, a Norwegian company still internationally famous for its cast iron stoves. We used to carry their waffle irons in the shop until they stopped making them. Yet another sigh. Like any cast iron product, it required seasoning, but it works like a champ, and there is no electric cord. You slap it on the burner and brush the grid with the fat of your choice (mine is butter), and you are ready to produce this Father’s Day favorite. The waffles themselves freeze beautifully, so go ahead and make the full recipe. I freeze them on a sheet and then transfer them them to a freezer bag. Take out the ones you need, wrap them in foil or throw them in a covered dish in a medium hot oven and you will have happy waffle campers.