NEW YORK (AP) — The notion of introducing a new food to the American public is almost inconceivable in an era of TV chefs, global cuisine and foodie websites. [...] that's what happened 50 years ago at the 1964 New York World's Fair in Queens, N.Y., when a family from Belgium introduced Belgian waffles, topped with fresh whipped cream, powdered sugar and sliced strawberries. Vermersch said that for years she ran a coffee shop, MariePaule's Authentic Belgian Waffles, in her current home of Albuquerque, New Mexico, that featured a picture of the 1964 World's Fair. "People would look at the name and see the picture and say, 'I ate those waffles at the World's Fair,' and they'd pick up the phone and call their parents," said Vermersch, who is in New York to attend the fair's 50th anniversary celebration this month, and also to care for her 95-year-old mother, who lives in Queens. Vermersch said she vowed never to create an instant mix because the recipe requires fresh, carefully prepped ingredients: pure vanilla, fresh yeast or self-rising flour, melted but cooled sweet butter, and eggs at room temperature, with egg whites added at the end.