"mashmallow", the confection

[Laurence Horn]

>Apparently they only sell 'em now during the Thanksgiving-Christmas Axis of
>Food Evil.
>
>So watch your store shelves.
>
>Chocolate Pinwheels are OK, but they don't fit as comfortably in the hand
>and they have a less chocolatey finish. The shape too is rather baroque for
>my taste.
>
>A Canadian firm bakes a variant Mallowmar (I forget the name) which adds a
>layer of raspberry jam between the marshmallow and the cake.  Also OK, but
>not really a Mallowmar.
>
>JL

And more crucially, not really a Mallomar! (Maybe the w-lessness was
to assure we'd pronounce it as in "callow" rather than "fellow"; like
everyone else, New Yorkers pronounce "marshmallow" itself with an /E/
as in "mellow".)

But of course there's a wiki entry for the category, with
cross-confectionary typology.  I was delighted to read of one
counterpart that "The Tunnock's Teacake enjoys iconic status in
Scotland, evoking memories of childhood, or symbolizing "home" for
Scots around the world." On the other hand, it's sobering to see all
the "Negro (Negress) Kiss (Head)" versions.

Mallomars ("produced seasonally at Nabisco", as Jon warns) are
themselves are described as follows:
"A graham cracker circle is covered with a puff of extruded
marshmallow, then enrobed in dark chocolate, which forms a hard
shell."

Poetic, no?

LH

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org