Marshmallow Techniques
Corn syrup, sugar, starch, gelatin. Doesn’t sound that fascinating does it? But whip those ingredients into a 1 inch cylinder (better yet, just buy a bag of marshmallows), poke a stick through one, and suspend it over a heat source, and you have a marvel of camp lore.
Long before s’mores became the preferred camper’s sweet tooth fix was the marvel of the marshmallow.
Many are the techniques of roasting marshmallows, and there are many connoiseurs who swear by their methods. Among them:
Purist – straight from the bag to the mouth, bypassing even the stick. The campfire is meant to be viewed and enjoyed, but not felt nor allowed to taint the manufactured perfection of the marshmallow. The marshmallow, raw and chewy, might also be pinched and massaged into another sweet form – marshmallow “taffy”.
Mad Dash – quickly speared, quickly suspended over a flame, and likely quickly consumed, this user is likely to have an incomplete set of adult teeth. The marshmallow may approach a tan color, but the melted and softened subshell encases a firm still-raw core.
Zen – This user typically tolerates intense heat and wafts of smoke while turning their marshmallow rotisserie-style over a bed of coals. No flames will likely lick this marshmallow’s skin. Roasted to a moderate brown, the insides frequently melt to the same creamy texture as the subshell, with only the brown skin acting as a sack to contain the full quota of calories and sugar bugs.
Combustible – This user swaggers to the fire, thrusts their marshmallow directly into the flame or immediately over the coals. When the entire marshmallow is ablaze, they may maneuver the stick so the entire marshmallow is covered in black crinkled burnt sugar. In more sophisticated circles, the results are known as guimauves brûlée. Since the combustion frequently happens to the inexperienced Zen roaster, a few Combustibles in their midst are the lucky recipients of their miscalculations. The burnt skin can be removed one layer at a time and the firm core re-burned several times.
Alas, a campfire still seems the ideal way to roast a marshmallow. A campfire lacking, however, the gas-powered fireplace at home has worked. In a pinch for fun, we have been known to roast mini marshmallows over a candle, set on top of a chocolate chip on a Cinnamon Toast Crunch square. Taa Daa, a mini s’more. But that’s another story.
