A homemade hearts waffle topped with blueberries, raspberries, vanilla ice-cream and generous whipped cream!
Photo © J E Nilsson for CMC, 2009
In Sweden, which might be the most secular nation on earth, the Annunciation is still celebrated the 25th of March every year by eating waffles.
The waffle day is however named as it is in Sweden due to a misunderstanding of the word Vår Fru, meaning Our Lady or in French, Notre Dame all referring to the Virgin Mary, but sounding like the word waffle or våffla in Swedish, albeit after some phonetical twists. So technically, waffles day in Sweden is a celebration of the visit of the angel Gabriel to Mary, with the news of Mary’s conception of Jesus. This happy revelation happened exactly nine months before the holy child Jesus was born on the night to the 25th of December, which we celebrate as Christmas.
Historically Sweden was pagan until the twelfth century. With the founding of modern Sweden some four hundred years later, the Swedes left Catholicism in favour for Protestantism. Religion wise it went pretty much downhill from then on however most feasts are still happily celebrated. The 16th century was also the first time that western people were allowed to read and hear the gospel in their own languages. Up until then, the Bible had been only available in Latin, so just maybe, the misunderstanding of the “Vår fru” dates back, all the way to that time too.
Today in Sweden, the celebration of waffles day is mostly concerned with how to make them as sinfully delightful as possible. Here are our suggestions:
A waffle topped with fresh blueberries, raspberries, whipped cream and a light dusting of icing sugar.