Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats
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Chocolate-coated marshmallow treats are produced in different variations around the world, with several countries claiming to have invented it or hailing it as their "national confection." The first chocolate-coated marshmallow treat was created about 200 years ago in Denmark.[1]
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[edit] Mallomars
Mallomars [2] are produced seasonally at Nabisco. A circle of Graham cracker is covered with a puff of extruded marshmallow, then "enrobed" in dark chocolate, which forms a hard shell. Mallomars were introduced to the public in 1913, the same year as the Moon Pie (a confection which has similar ingredients). The first box of Mallomars was sold in West Hoboken, NJ (now Union City, NJ). Nabisco discusses it with a short story printed on Mallomar boxes.
Because Mallomars melt easily in summer temperatures, they can become difficult to find during the summer: they are generally available from early October through April. Devoted eaters of the cookie have been known to stock up during winter months and keep them refrigerated over the summer. Seventy percent of all Mallomars sold are sold in metropolitan New York.
According to the box, Mallomars are made in Canada by Kraft Foods. In Canada, these are known as "Dream Puffs"
[edit] Mallowpuffs
Mallowpuffs are made by Griffins Foods Limited in New Zealand. It is very popular amongst New Zealanders. In recent years Griffins have released mallowpuffs with different flavored marshmallow, which was not well received by frequent eaters.
[edit] Krembo
"Krembo" (Hebrew: קרמבו) is very popular in Israel, especially in the winter as an alternative to ice-cream.[3] It comes wrapped in colorful aluminum foil, and consists of a round biscuit base covered with a dollop of marshmallow cream coated in chocolate. There are vanilla and mocha flavored Krembos. In Hebrew, the word krembo is a combination of krem (cream) and bo (in it). The average krembo weighs 25 grams (0.882 ounces) and has 115 calories.[1]
In Israel, the "krembo season" is very short, from October to February. Nevertheless, 50 million krembos are sold each year—an average of 9 per person in Israel.[1]
According to a study funded by Strauss, Israel's leading krembo producer, 69% of Israelis prefer to eat krembos from the top down (starting with the cream), and only 10% start with the biscuit at the bottom; the rest had no preference.[1]
Krembos are exported to the United States and Canada, and sold mostly in kosher shops and import stores [4].
The concoction was popular as a homemade sweet in pre-state Israel in the 1940s, when it was known as Kushi (Hebrew: כושי, "negro"). It entered mass production in 1966. The first manufacturer, the Whitman Company, coined the name Krembo. A mocha flavor was introduced in 1967. In 1979 Whitman was acquired by Strauss-Elite. Today Strauss controls 54% of the krembo market in Israel.[1]
[edit] Krembo according to Halacha
Some Orthodox Jews have used the krembo as a test case to explore the intricacies of Jewish law (Halacha). They claim that the order in which the krembo is eaten dictates what blessing is recited over it. The blessing over the biscuit is boreh miney mezonot, whereas the blessing over the cream and chocolate is shehakol nihiyya bidvaro. According to halacha, when eating a dish of mixed components, the blessing is recited over the main component. For a chocolate croissant, for example, one would say the blessing over the pastry rather than the chocolate. In the case of the krembo, however, there is no consensus about which is the "main" component: the biscuit, or the cream and chocolate coating. Some have solved the problem by blessing each component separately.[citation needed]
[edit] Krembo variations
In the first quarter of 2007, Nestlé introduced an ice cream variation of krembo called Lekbo (Hebrew: לקבו, "lick inside"). Nestlé spent a year perfecting the product and hopes to achieve sales of ₪5 million a year[5]..
[edit] Flødebolle
In the birthplace of the confection, Denmark, it is known as a flødebolle (cream bun). Until now, it was also called negerbolle (negro bun) or negerkys (negro kiss), but these names are slowly disappearing as the public becomes more sensitive to racial slurs[citation needed]. Denmark also markets a variation on the Krembo shaped more like a patty, hence the name - bøf (hamburger).
[edit] Neekerinsuukot
In Finland, the name originated from Germany, and they were named "Negro Kisses" in 1951. In 2001, their name was changed to "Brunberg's Kisses", after the manufacturer. Same reason as in Denmark. [2]
[edit] Chocolate teacake
The sweet also exists in the United Kingdom where it is known as a chocolate teacake[6] — Tunnock's being one of the best-known brands.
The product consists of a small round shortbread biscuit covered with a hemisphere of a whipped egg white concoction similar to marshmallow. This is then coated in a thin layer of milk or plain chocolate and wrapped in a distinctive red and silver foil paper for the more popular milk chocolate variety, and a blue and gold wrapping for the plain type.
The name tea cake is somewhat confusing as a teacake in England is usually a sweet bread roll with dried fruit which is served toasted and buttered.
British Wagon Wheels are not exactly the same, they are more akin to S'mores. Nearer is what is referred to as an 'English Teacake'. The original name refers to a specifically baked bread containing dried fruit -which is not dissimilar to a brioche. This can either be individually baked or cut from pieces of larger 'cakes'. The name was adapted in the UK to refer to Mallomar-shaped teatime biscuits, made originally by small localized manufacturers, but now made by Burtons Foods and Tunnock's. Distrubtion of this product within the UK can be localised and you can not always guarantee finding it in every store. Though Mallomars and tea biscuits are similar, there is some dispute on this point; Mallomars typically have a thicker, somewhat harder external chocolate shell, whereas Tunnock's tea cakes have a thin skin of milk or dark chocolate.[citation needed]
[edit] Zefir
In Russian-speaking areas, there is a great variety of similar foods, known collectively as Zefir (зефир). These vary a great deal in terms of the flavoring and texture of the filling - fruit flavors are common, as is simple citric acid. The texture can be soft, like a marshmallow, or more brittle, like a meringue.
[edit] Schokoküsse
Schokoküsse were first introduced in industrial numbers in 1920, although the first mention of them in Germany dates back to 1829. The sweets are sold all year long. Every year approximately one billion are sold.[citation needed] This makes an average of about one dozen per person per year. They are available in supermarkets, many bakeries and some schools. Sometimes they are sold pressed between two halves of a bun, which is also referred to as a Matschbrötchen ("Mud Bread Roll").[citation needed]
They were first only known under the names Mohrenkopf ("Moor's Head") or Negerkuss ("Negro's Kiss"), but most companies changed the official product-name to the more neutral Schokokuss ("Chocolate Kiss"), Schaumkuss ("Foam Kiss") or to brand-specific names. The most famous example for this is Dickmann's. In vernacular the sweet is still commonly referred to as Negerkuss.[citation needed] Similarly, the French name, originally tête de nègre (negro's head) was progressively replaced by the designation tête de choco ("chocoheads") or simply meringue au chocolat (chocolate meringue).[7]
[edit] Whippets
Whippet cookies are produced in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. They consist of biscuit base topped with marshmallow and then coated in a hard shell of pure chocolate. Whippet cookies first came to the market in 1927, although they had been produced and distributed by Viau under the name "Empire" as early as 1901. Today, the cookies are still produced in Montreal at the east end of the Viau factory, which is now owned by Culinar Inc. They are currently available with both dark chocolate and milk chocolate coatings, and with several flavors of fruit jam filling inside the marshmallow.
The cookies are similar to Mallomars of New York City, except that Whippets can be produced throughout the year because Montreal and its surrounding areas have a lower average temperature than New York. They also bear a striking resemblance to Tunnock's Tea Cakes as well as Krembos, a traditional European Jewish confection by way of Denmark. However, the Tunnock tea cake does not have the same kind of chocolate and the Krembo has a different type of filling.
The Whippet cookie is a distinct part of Quebec culture because it does not travel well outside its area of production. This is partly because the pure chocolate melts very easily (compared with a chocolate mixture) and therefore they require refrigerated transport in summer. Furthermore, the combination of the hard chocolate shell and the air-filled inner marshmallow make them self-destruct when placed in the unpressurized or semi-pressurized cargo section of an airplane. However, they are currently available at least as far away as Ontario, Canada's maritime provinces, New York City, Pennsylvania and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
An episode of the Canadian science program How It's Made showed the production process behind the cookie, however, many aspects of the production process (the amount of marshmallow filling, the ingredients, etc.) were not revealed. The show's narrator described these aspects as "classified information."
Another Canadian cookie, Viva Puffs, is produced by Dare Foods and comes in five flavours. Lastly, Choco Pies, produced by Orion Confectionery in Korea, are similar.
[edit] Mallowpuffs
In New Zealand, Griffin's Mallowpuffs and Arnott's Marshians are the closest to Mallomars. Mallowpuffs are available in varieties such as Banana Split, Double Choc, Jaffa, Original, Pineapple, Rocky Road and Toffee.
[edit] Other varieties
In Flanders, the Krembo is known as Negerinnentet (negress titties), although the manufacturers market it under a less offensive name. In Switzerland, they are still marketed as "Mohrenköpfe" (Moor's heads).[3] In Austria, they are called Schwedenbomben (Swedish bombs). The closest product in the United States is Mallomar. In 2001, the Brunberg Oy company in Finland changed the name of its product from Neekerinsuukko, Negro's kiss, to Brunbergin suukko (Brunberg's kiss). When it first went on the market in Ghandour, Lebanon, the name was ras el abd (slave's head); it has since been changed to Tarboush (Fez)[citation needed]. Similar products in North America are Wagon Wheels and Puffs. In Australia the closest product is Arnott's Chocolate Royals, which are available in milk and dark chocolate varieties, and are similar in appearance to a Tunnock's teacake.
[edit] Popular culture
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d e "10 Things you don't know about a krembo", Yedioth Ahronoth, 2003-11-07. Retrieved on 2007-01-20. (Hebrew)
- ^ The Mallomar
- ^ Chestnuts roasting in my gelato - Haaretz - Israel News
- ^ "פיתוח ישראלי חדש: קרמבו גלידה", Yediot Aharonot, 2007-02-07. Retrieved on 2007-02-07. (Hebrew)
- ^ Sapir Peretz. "גלידה של חורף", Globes, 2006-10-24. Retrieved on 2007-01-22. (Hebrew)
- ^ [1] BBC News report
- ^ Peabody, Sue (2003). The Color of Liberty. Durham: Duke University Press. ISBN 0822331179.
- Ode au biscuit Whippet http://archives.cbc.ca/IDC-0-107-1408-8932/annees80/1989-06-04/clip1.
- Intemporelles http://tva.canoe.com/emissions/saisonsdeclodine/consommation/209.html
