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TdF Suggested – Murilo Rocha
There are three ingredients: glucose, gelatin and sugar. However, when the sweet was invented, around 2000 BC, in ancient Egypt, it was made from honey and flavored with the sap of the mallow (Althaea officinalis), a plant known as marshmallow, in English. The western world was only introduced to the delicacy in 1800, when French confectioners discovered the recipe and replaced the mallow sap with gelatin. Production was artisanal until, in 1948, the American Alex Doumak invented extrusion: in this process, which lasts about 45 minutes and is still used today, the ingredients are cooked at a temperature of 115°C. The dough then passes through tubes to receive injections of air that make it soft and inflated before being cut and packaged.
Since then, the sweet has become a worldwide fever. Annually, 41 thousand tons are traded in the USA alone.
CONSULTANCY: Andrea Vasconcelos, Fini candies marketing manager
SOURCES: National Confectiononiers Association (USA) and websites The New York Times, EXAME, Made How and inventors.about.com
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