Where do our favorite dishes come from? In our ongoing series ‘Food History’ we take a look at classic dishes and their roots. 

Puffy, sweet and light, marshmallows are good all year round, from being used in hot chocolate to making s’mores over a summer camp fire. But it wasn’t always a sweet treat.

Marshmallow happens to be a plant, and what we know as a marshmallow today is actually a modern version of a medical confection made from that plant.

The physician Hippocrates in Ancient Greece was a fan of its benefits, and if you had a sore throat during the Renaissance, a marshmallow may have been prescribed. But even before that the Egyptians were mixing the plant’s sap with honey for a confection that was worthy of the gods.

Despite its noble roots, don’t think that the modern marshmallow is a puffy piece of vegetable goodness. Although its ancestors were made from Althaea officinalis, today’s marshmallow is most often a combination of sucrose and proteins derived from gelatin or egg white, a process that came to be in the early 19th century when the French decided to whip up the sap from marshmallow roots and sweeten it.

But the plant sap soon gave way to easier ingredients – whipping the plant’s roots was hard work – and egg whites or gelatin were soon used to create that chewy consistency that marshmallows are known for. Then in 1948, an American by the name of Alex Doumak came along and developed a process that allowed for the mass production of marshmallows – basically a process that manually produced the cylindrical shapes that we know today.

Thanks to their sweet taste and mass-marketing, we’ve come to love the marshmallow. Americans are said to purchase about 90 million pounds of marshmallows a year–and more than half of those are sold during the summer months, otherwise known as s’more season. (Speaking of which, the largest s’more ever created was made with 20,000 marshmallows. Chubby bunny anyone?)

Which brings us to Peeps, the brightly colored marshmallow candy, of which over 70 million are sold at Easter time every year. First made in 1920, the candy didn’t become popular until the ’50s, right after the time marshmallows started being mass produced. It’s said that in 1953 it took about 27 hours to make a Peep; today it’s only six minutes.

But as you might have guessed, our modern marshmallows have no trace of their namesake plant; you’ll often find them made with much more processed ingredients like high fructose corn syrup, delightful gelatin made from meat by-products and chemical flavorings. Yum.

Not to worry, if you love the puffy, light taste of marshmallows, they’re easy to make at home, and without a trace of gelatin. Thanks to a blog that was once devoted to the art of the vegan marshmallow, there’s a crowd-sourced recipe that many people stick to. Check it out here. You can also get creative and cut your marshmallows into various shapes like in this recipe.

Let s’more season begin!

Image: poppet with a camera

The post Food History: Marshmallows, from Peeps to DIY Vegan Recipes appeared first on EcoSalon.

Where do our favorite dishes come from? In our ongoing series ‘Food History’ we take a look at classic dishes and their roots. 

At a few cocktail events over winter I discovered that hot chocolate was a sought after drink, set out each time complete with an array of fancy additions like cacao nibs and gourmet sprinkles. Always nice to know that the comfort drink of winter has hit a certain level of chicness.

Hot chocolate has always been the drink of cold days. A warm up after a day of skiing or a pick me up after you get stuck in a downpour. A good (and big) cup of hot chocolate can do wonders for the soul. If it’s made well – thick, creamy, full of dark chocolate – it’s a bit of happiness in a mug.

You’ll find hot chocolate in many parts of the world, and although it seems to be a drink more destined for cold weather locales, its roots actually go back to a warmer region. Archeological evidence suggests that people in Mesoamerica (otherwise known as modern-day Mexico) were cultivating and drinking chocolate as far back as 4,000 years ago. The Aztecs and Mayans both made it into a beverage known as xocolātl, a Nahuatl word meaning “bitter water.”

The Aztecs actually associated chocolate with Xochiquetzal, the goddess of fertility, so chocolate beverages were often used as sacred offerings. In fact, blood and chocolate were both very sacred liquids to the Aztecs, and cacao seeds were used in religious ceremonies to symbolize the human heart.

When Europeans came to the New World, they too were seduced by the warm, chocolatey drink. Christopher Columbus returned to Europe with the first cocoa beans. (Maybe the reason for a recipe for Moctezuma’s Hot Chocolate, a much spicier rendition of the winter classic.) Spanish conquistador Hernam Cortes was so infatuated with the drink, that he wrote a letter to Charles V of Spain calling chocolate: “The divine drink which builds up resistance & fights fatigue. A cup of this precious drink permits man to walk for a whole day without food.”

From the Americas to Spain, the Spanish began adding in sugar and making the drink their own. It eventually made its way up the continent, although at the time was more expensive than coffee, equating chocolate with more southern, Catholic and aristocratic roots, while coffee was seen as more northern, Protestant and middle class.

Even in the early days of the United States chocolate played a role. Thomas Jefferson once said, “The superiority of chocolate, both for health and nourishment, will soon give it the same preference over tea and coffee in America which it has in Spain.”

In 1828 Dutchman Coenraad Johannes van Houten developed a method for extracting the fat from the cocoa beans and in turn made powdered cocoa. This allowed for a new wave of chocolate, and the ultimate distinction between hot cocoa (made with powder) and hot chocolate (made with solid chocolate).

Today the hot chocolate trend is back, allowing for artisan chocolatiers to play with flavor combinations and rigorously sourced cocoa beans. Think small-batch, gourmet and sometimes served in the oddest of ways, like with oysters.

I prefer to go classic.

On a very cold February evening, I was walking in the Marais in Paris and freezing. My fingers were on the verge of numb, and even though in a neighborhood known for its bars and restaurants, a cocktail or a glass of wine wasn’t going to cut it. So at the sighting of a brasserie, I walked in and ordered a chocolat chaud à l’ancienne. A mug arrived, one third of the way full with melted chocolate. A small pitcher of warm milk was served on the side. I was left to mix the two as I pleased.

Now that’s how hot chocolate should be made. I am sure the Aztecs would have approved.

Image: Anna Brones

The post Food History: Hot Chocolate The Ultimate Comfort Drink Then and Now appeared first on EcoSalon.

Designers have long found inspiration in pleats, from Mariano Fortuny’s “Delphos” dress to Stella McCartney’s standout AW2011 collection.

Box, Accordion, Inverted, Honeycomb, Knife – there are as many types of pleats as there are plausible explanations for when and where they first originated. From evidence of plissé style pleats found in Viking graves in Birka as far back as 10 B.C.. to Mariano Fortuny’s stunning art nouveau “Delphos” dress in 1920 to Stella McCartney’s directional use of stiffened micropleats in her standout AW2011 collection – it’s clear pleating enjoys both a long tradition of inspiring ethereally classic style, and is set to enjoy a roaring revival in 2012.

Save for school uniforms and Disney animated female leads, the use of pleating had all but disappeared from modern wardrobes. And here’s why: unless you’ve got the trim tummy of a school girl or figure disproportionate answering to the name of Ariel or Belle, you’re unlikely to want to wear what is easily the least flattering item in the history of clothing.

A tricky look done right via Harpers Bazaar’s Street Style Blog. Cinch in the waist and wear a darker hued top to contrast with the fullness of the skirt.

It’s true. The very reason for their invention – to give cloth an elastic quality that will cling to the curves of the body without the need for darting or shaped panels – is precisely what makes pleats so widening and aging. But with the trend for twenties deco hitting spring fashion like Gatsby‘s big yellow buick hit Myrtle Wilson, it’s time to mount a full scale rescue of the pleat from frumpdom.

And, as always in fashion, there’s a trick to pulling it off. The best advice to wearing the style this time around is to have them start at the hip, not the waistband. Cinch-in the waist and then do double due diligence by wearing with a black top to contrast with the fullness of the skirt.

The post Then And Now: Pleats appeared first on EcoSalon.

If in doubt at how to wear the midi skirt now, look to London’s Ossie Clark who first introduced the midi skirt in 1967.

No one was very happy when U.S. designers first introduced the conservative midi skirt to counter ultra short miniskirts in the early 70’s. Activist groups like the mini-loving GAMS (Girls Against More Skirt) and FADD (Fight Against More Skirt) organized into groups such as POOFF (Preservation of Our Femininity and Finances) to protest the new look and denounce the designers who pushed the style.

In contrast, when designers like Fendi and Celine confirmed their preference for spring’s long, ladylike skirts with a repeat showing in their fall collections – this time the look was universally embraced and adored. But while the new length is everywhere for fall, it can be tough to pull it off without looking like you’re playing a bit part on HBO’s Big Love series.

Take a lesson from Ossie Clark, the British designer who managed to persuade boutique babes in London to ditch the mini in 1967, and keep the volume up high and the waist defined. Contrary to the fear that the longer length will cut your leg off in a strange spot, the calf-grazing skirt actually makes legs look longer and slimmer. For a modern look, pair with ankle boots, cropped sweater or bomber and a fun accessory like a floppy hat to keep that cool 70’s vibe going.

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