I'm interested in historic food recipes, and I keep seeing the marsh mallow plant near me. I'd love to try making a real marshmallow, like the Ancient Egyptian kids enjoyed.
Anybody looked into this? I'm guessing it's some sort of tahini-style food, but I can't find any definitive sources on it...
4 tablespoons marshmallow roots
28 tablespoons sugar
20 tablespoons gum tragacanth
2 cups water (Water of orange flowers for aroma or instead of plain water)
1 -2 egg white, well beaten
Make sure the mallow roots aren’t moldy or too woody. Marshmallow gives off almost twice its own weight of mucilaginous gel when placed in water. Make a tea of marshmallow roots by simmering in a pint of water for twenty to thirty minutes. Add additional water if it simmers down. Strain out the roots. Heat the gum and marshmallow decoction (water) in a double boiler until they are dissolved together. Strain with pressure. Stir in the sugar as quickly as possible. When dissolved, add the well beaten egg whites, stirring constantly, but take off the fire and continue to stir. Lay out on a flat surface. Let cool, and cut into smaller pieces.