What is the origin of the Marshmallow?

Factual Questions
1

This is an ongoing debate that my friends and I have been having.

What is the origin of the marshmallow?

I found this on the www.jetpuffed.com on the “History” page:

“As one of the world’s oldest confections, marshmallows date back to ancient Egypt (2000 BC). Some historians claim marshmallows got their name when pharaohs discovered that by squeezing the mallow plant (grown wild in marshes), a sweet, sticky substance surfaced that could be made into a confection. The delicacy was so special, it was reserved for royalty.”

Unfortunately, my friends do not accept the Jet-Puffed website as proof. They piont their grubby fingers at the Oxford English Dictionairy (not the online edition) which says that the first marshmallow was made in the 1800’s.

What’s the truth here? Where can I get some more solid proof of my ancient marshmallow hypothesis?

Thanks,
Dan

2

Depends on what kind of “marshmallow” you’re talking about, the ancient confection or the modern corn syrup puffy white thing.

3

Thanks, Duck Duck.

The initial statement of the bet was ambiguous, but since the ancient confection was also called marshmallows, that’s going to be the subject of our debate.

Where can I get some more reputable information on this subject? My friends simply will not accept an internet source as reliable. I’ve spent a little bit of time looking through the index of candy history books, but I can’t find conclusive info either way.

For example, where does your about.com link get its information from? Did they just read it off of another website? There should be the source of this info out there somewhere.

Can you help me find it?

4

If there were evidence of the root of the ‘marsh mallow’ being used to make a confection prior to the OED cites in the 1800’s, one would expect to have found it rather easily. I guess it’s always possible that the secret was lost in ancient times, much like the embalming process of the Egyptians. But I doubt it.

5

As a minor hyjack, does anyone know if MarshMallow made from actual Marsh Mallow plant resin is available anywhere?

6

An earlier thread on this subject:

7

If you look at the link, you’ll see that the answer to your question is “yes”.