Summer and early fall make for the best time to go camping; to get away from the city, reconnect with nature, and sleep under the stars. Camping, of course, also means campfires, and who among us hasn’t taken part in the time honored tradition of roasting marshmallows? Be it for someres or just to enjoy on their own, we love roasted marshmallows, from the patience required for the procedure to the gooey deliciousness of the final product. But just what is a marshmallow? Here’s a brief history.
The marshmallow, believe it or not, was originally a natural food that came from a plant. Appropriately enough, that plant was called the marsh mallow, or Althea officinalis to use its botanical name. The marsh mallow is indigenous to Eurasia and Northern Africa, and its use dates back thousands of years. By boiling the plant’s sap, straining it, and sweetening it, harvesters of the marsh mallow were rewarded with a sweet treat that was often used to soothe sore throats or simply eaten for the sheer enjoyment.
Marshmallows were originally a luxury item, as each one had to be hand moulded in a rather time consuming process. Enter: the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to modern machinery the humble marshmallow became an assembly line product, and with the cost of production significantly decreased, it quickly became one of the most common forms of candy. Sadly, there’s no trace of the original marsh mallow to be found in modern marshmallows, as they now mostly consist of corn syrup, cornstarch, and gelatin.
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