Mystery Food Mystery

Last Updated (Wednesday, 24 March 2010 08:58) Written by Raymond Nakamura

(Warning: this post may be bad for your teeth)

Growing up, I had only knew the kind in plastic bags. I wondered what in the world they were made of. Not too long ago, I came across a local bakery that made them from scratch. I was flabbergasted.

Inspired, my wife made some following a recipe she found on the internet (I don't know which one, but this one had nice pictures). I was ubergasted. 

King Tut

I haven't seen the hieroglyphics documenting this, but supposedly, ancient Egyptians used the jelly-like root of the wetland plant (Althaea officinalis) for which this food is now named. They mixed it with honey and grains to bake into cakes, for gods and pharaohs, so maybe even King Tut had some.

The French

The ancient Greeks and Romans used the plant for various medicinal purposes. Later, the French used the gummy plant juice mixed with egg white and sugar to make a confection to sooth children's coughs. Apparently, they still make pâté de guimauve with the original ingredients.

Gelatin

In the late 1800s, geletain replaced the more time-consuming extraction of the plant material after Charles B. Knox figured out how to mass produce gelatin from the leftover bits of slaughtered animals. Gelatin apparently had similar properties, though not the health-promoting ones. Another variation used gum arabic. Large scale production relied on a "starch mogul system" with moulds made of corn starch.

Extrusion

In 1948, candymaker Alex Doumakes developed an extrusion process to mass produce the mystery food using tubes that give them their now characteristic shape.

Today

Nowadays, this campfire treat named after a plant it no longer contains is most common in its  mass produced form. For the original plant components, you have to go to health food stores, which sell different parts for different purposes. Some studies have shown that it can be useful for coughs, irritated mucous membranes and other ailments.

Did you figure out what I'm talking about?

Have you had the home-made kind or even the original plant-based kind?