Marshmallows!!!!!

I’m sure that you, like me, find yourself wondering from time to time how things come to be. I’d like to share some pictures of “how marshmallows came to be”. I live up in the mountains, in the countryside... with not a lot to do on weekends. I have a lot of time on my hands, so I decided to share what I've discovered.

Marshmallows are actually the blossom from a special breed of sugar cane plant: The saccharum officinarum marshmallium, or "Sugar Cane Marshmallow"

Did you know that marshmallows were originally from Korea? This special breed of wild marshmallium still grows naturally here. In the fall, up in the mountainous areas of Korea, you can see them dotting the fields.

Western-style marshmallows are harvested much sooner, before they fully blossom to keep them sweeter and easier to package for distribution. Here are some matured blossoms in the process of being harvested.

They don't taste as sweet as the kind I'm used to... they have an earthy, straw-ish flavor. It takes some getting used to, but I'm working at it! Their flavor makes them unmarketable in western culture, but they have a variety of other uses.

In fact, Scientists are currently researching how to process the fully matured bloom from a marshmallium into a cheaper kind of “Memory Foam” for beds.