3rd August: Marshmallows

Marshmallow - this would be the plant the sweets would be made from; however, my facts are mostly about the sweets. This plant was celebrated by the French Revolutionary Calendar on this date.

1. The plant is Athaea officinalis, or the mallow plant, which grows (you've guessed it) in marshes. It is native to parts of Europe, North Africa, and Asia, and has been introduced to America. Its flowers are pale Pink with five petals and appear in August and September.
2. Humans have been making sweets out of this plant since ancient Egypt, although back then, only Gods, Nobility and Pharaohs were allowed to eat it. Egyptian marshmallows were a mixture of mallow sap, Honey and grains baked into cakes.
3. Marshmallows have been used for medicinal purposes. The Romans and Greeks used them to cure sore throats and colds. Later on, during the 15th and 16th centuries marshmallow liquids were used as treatments for toothaches and digestive problems. It was also thought marshmallows had aphrodisiac properties.
4. Eating them as sweets originated in France in the 1800s when confectioners figured out that the sap from the mallow root could be whipped into a fluffy, tasty moldable substance. This process was time consuming, however and this is where marshmallow sweets and the marshmallow plant parted company as confectioners realised it was quicker and easier to use gelatin instead.
5. By the 1900s, marshmallows had reached the USA, where they became very popular. Americans buy 90 million pounds of marshmallows each year, about the same weight as 1,286 grey Whales.
6. A popular activity around campfires is toasting them. This makes the insides melt and become gooey.
7. This activity is not recommended if you suffer from Althaiophobia, an irrational fear of marshmallows.
8. 100 grams of marshmallow contains 318 calories. They're mostly carbohydrate (81g) and sugar (58g). They contain small amounts of sodium, Potassium, Iron and protein, very little fat and no cholesterol.
9. Ligonier, Indiana, claims to be the marshmallow capital of the world and holds an annual marshmallow festival.
10. The astronauts at NASA allegedly found a novel use for marshmallows. They stuffed them up their noses during lift off to prevent their nasal membranes being damaged. I say allegedly - this fact appeared in several lists, including one which asked readers to spot the fake fact. There was no link to the answer, so I can't be sure if this is actually true or a fake fact that's been blindly copied.

Bonus fact! Marshmallows feature in one of my short stories. Sweet Karma. 

Read it here on my writing blog, or in this book:

Sweet Karma

More murder and mayhem along with moving statues, Ancient Egyptian magic pebbles, a World War II evacuee's diary and a bathtub full of marshmallows.

Paperback  Amazon

E-Book Amazon Kindle