Wafer-thin Records

It has been spluttered that I am jotting down somewhat extra-ordinary worryingly weird topics these days. Okay, since State Presidents can now be de-elected as a weekend-leisure activity ànd because I didn't take my medication regularly, things had been slipping somewhat.

Let's then reflect on the following somewhat "mundane" topic: Wafers.

Not terribly addicted to wafers, my interest in it was sparked when I recently read the lovely novel The Italian Quarter' by Domenica De Rosa.

So, where do wafer cookies originate from?

The author wrote about the “dirty” (always immaculately clean) Italians starting ice-cream ventures in London during the days of Mussolini and Semitism in its height. Shortly after ice-cream ventures, wafers followed...

I did a quick search and found the following:

Description: a thin crisp cake, candy, or cracker

Biscuits can be traced back to the second century in Rome. It was then hard and thin wafers, which had a low water content and ideal to store, as they wouldn't turn to mould quickly."

Century A.D. - The earliest cookie-style cakes are thought to date back to 7th century Persia A.D. (now Iran), one of the first countries to cultivate sugar (luxurious cakes and pastries well known in the Persian empire).

Among noted eaters have been: Chopin, Wagner, Goethe, Edward VII of England.

"Cacao wafers, intended to be dissolved as needed, were issued to
soldiers, in order to fortify them during marches and in battle."

By the end of the 14th century, one could buy little filled wafers on
the streets of Paris. Renaissance cookbooks were rich in cookie
recipes.

From the 1596 cookbook called Goode Huswife's Jewel by Thomas
Dawson. One of the earliest cookery books for the growing middle
classes in Elizabethan England. This is a square short-cookie enriched
with egg yolks and spices, baked on parchment paper. A Wafer?

The wafer cookie was awarded with a gold metal for best baking product at the Paris World Expo of 1900

Herewith a introduction to a long list of Wafers:

Guittard white chocolate wafer - French
Benne wafer – South carolina
Tunbridge Wells Wafers (a result of wartime and post-war rationing)
Sugar Free Wafers
Quadratini Wafers - dark chocolate
Anzac wafer (now Anzac Biscuit)
Benne Seed Wafers (Africa)
Tarecos de Amendoim (Italian Peanut Wafers)
Cornmeal Butter Wafers
Ginger Almond Wafers
Jan Hagel (Cinnamon Almond Wafers
Cream Parisian Wafers
Lemon Wafer
lérias (Portuguese dessert wafers)
Cream Wafer
Ivin's Spiced Wafer Cookies.
Vinilla Wafer Cookie
Brandy Wafer Cookie
California Wine Wafer Cookie
Alaska Wafer Cookie
Strawberry Wafer
Gourmet Wafers
Cheese Coins (Savory Cheese Wafers)
Venetian Cafe Cream Wafer

In my view: Long live the The Pink Wafer