eating like a yooper: addendum on marshmallows

so marshmallows are not u.s. american.

germans might be reminded of Mäusespeck gummy candy but culturally marshmallows have early ancestry in egypt and were later on refined by the french according to the u.s. american chemical society and the u.s. national confectioners association.

marshmallow is the sap harvested from the root of a pink-flowering plant that grew wild in marshes called althaea officinalis. in german the marshmallow plant is called Echter Eibisch. the sap is mucilaginous and in the middle ages soothed colds and sore throats. before, the egyptians blended it with honey and nuts to serve the pharaoh a treat.

in the 1800s french confectioners used the gooey sap to create the modern version of marshmallows. the name stuck but its crucial name-giving ingredient has been lost. around the early 20th century the mallow sap wasn´t used anymore to gel sugar, honey, and nuts together. egg whites and gelatin were found to be more readily available and to foam nicely instead for the postmodern marshmallows consumed year round mostly by u.s. americans.

Today's marshmallows generally contain corn syrup, modified cornstarch, sugar, gelatin, and a lot of air. Although most marshmallow products today do not contain egg whites, this ingredient is still used to give marshmallow crème its gooey texture. [...]

Few marshmallows are handmade today. The advent of automated marshmallow-making helped the sweet gain popularity in the U.S. in the 1950s. Alex Doumak, a marshmallow manufacturer, introduced an extrusion process that produced pieces of the same size and shape. Kraft, which produces what it says is America's favorite brand, Jet-Puffed marshmallows, has maintained its recipe and used the extrusion process since 1953, according to company statements.

i´ve seen small marshmallows trapped in jell-o mixes, a sort of Kaltschale or clear Rote Grütze in all artificial flavors and colors there are. that was especially in nebraska. around thanksgiving they top sweet potatoes nationwide. around christmas and snow days kids let big marshmallows swim in hot cocoa until they grow to clog the cup.

but the most obvious marshmallow function is to provide fond memories of roasting them over a campfire in the summer during childhood. eating them plain or as sweet sandwiches with crackers and chocolate, called s´mores (but that´s a separate story).

by the way, according to the national confectioners association, u.s. americans as the main consumers, buy more than 90 million pounds of the puffy pillows each year.