PARIS: Marshmallows roasted over a campfire may be a staple of American childhood, but few realize the pillowy treats were invented in 19th-century France, where they are bouncing back into foodie fashion.
Sweet or salty, flavored with fruit, flowers, vegetables — even fish — classic versions and novel takes on the puffy pastel-colored cubes are winning a new fan base.
“Sales have been booming of late. And we are not selling just to kids!” said Julien Merceron, pastry chef at the 250-year-old Parisian confectionary “La Mere de Famille” whose best-seller is a pale green pear-flavoured marshmallow.
Star French chef Alain Ducasse recently dug out the traditional recipe for “guimauve” — as the cottony sweet is known in France — promptly declaring his own marshmallows “the best in the capital.”
At the Fauchon luxury confectioner’s in Paris a young sales attendant said she was selling bucketloads of the treats, priced at nine euros (11 dollars) for a packet of a dozen.
“Our customers are mostly elderly people and children — and among them there are a lot of Japanese. They love that it melts in the mouth and that it feels so home-made.”
“They are more and more in fashion,” agreed Merceron, who dates the start of the craze to around two years ago. “When times are hard, people tend to look to the past. Marshmallow is linked to childhood, and that’s clearly part of the explanation.”
When it comes to marshmallows as comfort food, France’s answer to the campfire experience is a chocolate-coated pink teddy bear — bite off the head first, then wolf down the body — a staple of every French childhood.
That is certainly true of Parisian schoolteacher Nicole Bermann.
“When I was a little girl, my grandmother would always give me marshmallow bears. Nowadays, whenever I feel down, I eat a whole packet,” she told AFP. Sign of its enduring appeal, the little teddy — born 50 years ago in a factory in northern France — has a cult following and its own Facebook page.
The very first marshmallows date back as far as ancient Egypt whose people boiled up an extract of the marshmallow plant, Althaea officinalis, into a chewy medicinal paste sweetened with honey and used to soothe sore throats.
Cut to 19th-century France, where the country’s confectioners developed a version of the recipe intended purely for pleasure — called “pate de guimauve” or “guimauve” for short.
Made with egg white meringue and often flavored with rose water, guimauve was a direct ancestor of today’s marshmallows — which get their gooey texture from gelatin instead of the marshmallow plant.
Industrial marshmallows made their appearance in 1948, when Alex Doumak, the founder of the US confectionary giant Doumak Inc, patented a process allowing long cylinders of the sweet to be mass-produced at low cost.
But small confectioners — along with amateur cooks on both sides of the Atlantic — have continued to boil up the sweets too.
High-end outfits like “La Mere de Famille” use all natural-flavourings and simple recipes miles away from their additive-laden industrial counterparts — but Merceron does admit to using artificial colorings “within reason.”
Yannick Conraux and his partner Florence, a couple of patissiers from eastern Lorraine, wanted to take things one step further.
“My husband had a childhood dream, to make a completely natural marshmallow with egg whites, sugar and natural food coloring,” said Florence Conraux. Pina Colada marshmallow and marshmallow jam are the proudest creations of the pair, who are poised to start exporting over the border to Germany.
Eaten toasted on a stick, or popped straight in the mouth, strawberry, orange, bergamot, anizeed and orange-flower are the most sought-after flavours from today’s French marshmallow-lovers.
At Fauchon the puffy sweets come in blackcurrant, orange or raspberry. But why stop there?
Patrick Jeffroy, a chef from the Finistere region of Brittany, serves up marshmallow flecked with seaweed, whipped with lobster coral, Thai curry or squid ink, to diners at his restaurant in Carantec.
“I work marshmallow together with seafood, you get new flavours from the combination of fish and gelatin,” explained the Breton chef, unafraid of taking marshmallow into bold new territory.
France melts for marshmallow
France melts for marshmallow
Recipes for Success: Chef Aljawharah Al-Salem offers advice and a cereal bar recipe
DUBAI: At Kimpton KAFD Riyadh, pastry chef and chocolatier Aljawharah Al-Salem is hoping to contribute to a new chapter in Saudi Arabia’s evolving culinary story. One of the Kingdom’s most promising pastry talents, Al-Salem studied at Ecole Ducasse — Ecole Nationale Superieure de Patisserie in France and George Brown College in Toronto.
She has honed her expertise in French pastry and chocolate in kitchens including Le Meurice in Paris, Hotel X Toronto, and Richmond Station. Today, Al-Salem channels that experience into innovative chocolate creations at Kimpton KAFD Riyadh.
“Our menus are designed to celebrate Saudi flavors while presenting them in a modern, refined way,” Al-Salem tells Arab News. “We wanted to create dishes that feel familiar to locals but also surprise international guests. You’ll find traditional ingredients like dates, saffron, cardamom, and local honey, but paired with global techniques and presentations. It’s a balance between heritage and innovation.”
When asked about her favorite dish on the menu, she said: “My favorite is the Saudi Tiramisu. It’s close to my heart because it tells the story of Saudi hospitality on a plate. Every time I prepare it, I feel I’m honoring my roots but also pushing boundaries in how Saudi cuisine can be presented.”
Here, she discusses her love for olive oil and fatty burgers, and shares a recipe for nut and spice cereal bars.
When you started out, what was the most common mistake you made?
Rushing the process. In the beginning, I wanted everything to be perfect and fast, but great food takes patience. Whether it’s proofing dough or tempering chocolate, time is often the secret ingredient.
What’s your top tip for amateur chefs?
Don’t be afraid to experiment. Recipes are guidelines, not rules. Start with fresh ingredients, taste as you go, and enjoy the process rather than worrying about the result — especially if you have tiny hands helping you in the kitchen. Cooking together makes the food taste even better.
What one ingredient can instantly improve any dish?
Good quality olive oil. It adds depth, richness, and balance whether you’re cooking or finishing a dish. For us, in the region, olive oil carries cultural as well as nutritional value.
When you go out to eat, do you find yourself critiquing the food?
It’s impossible not to notice details, but I try to focus on the overall experience rather than just picking faults.
And what’s the most common issue you find in other restaurants?
The most common issue I notice isn’t about flavor; it's about consistency. A dish might be great one day and average the next. Consistency is the true test of a kitchen.
What’s your favorite cuisine or dish to order?
As much as I admire fine cuisine, after a long shift nothing hits the spot like a fatty smash burger. It’s the kind of food that doesn’t require perfection, it just delivers pure comfort, and that’s exactly what a chef craves after hours of precision in the kitchen.
What’s your go-to dish if you have to cook something quickly at home?
If I need a quick meal, I go for a one-pot pasta — sorry, Italians! It’s fast, comforting, and feeds the whole family.
What customer request or behavior most annoys you?
I wouldn’t say it annoys me, but sometimes people come in with a closed mindset — wanting things only the way they know them. I believe part of dining out is trusting the chef and being open to new flavors and experiences. Life is too short to only stick to what you know.
What’s your favorite dish to cook and why?
I love cooking saleeq. It’s comforting, deeply flavorful, and brings people together. In Saudi culture, saleeq is often served at big gatherings, so it also feels symbolic of our hospitality.
What’s the most difficult dish for you to get right?
Pastry is always humbling. It requires absolute precision and patience. You can’t improvise with baking the way you can with savory cooking, so it keeps me sharp.
As a leader, what are you like?
I believe in discipline, but not in shouting. A kitchen should be built on respect and teamwork. I lead by example. If my team sees me as focused, organized and calm, they mirror that energy. At the end of the day, food tastes better when it’s prepared in a positive environment.
Chef Aljawharah’s nut and spice cereal bars
Yield: 10 bars (30 × 40 cm tray, 1 cm thick)
Ingredients
• 180 g Rolled oats, lightly toasted
• 100 g Puffed rice (or puffed wheat)
• 60 g Puffed quinoa (or toasted quinoa)
• 40 g Almonds, roasted & chopped
• 40 g Pistachios, roasted & chopped
• 30 g Pumpkin seeds, toasted
• 30 g Sunflower seeds, toasted
• 30 g Dried cranberries
• 20 g Candied orange peel, finely diced
• 2 g Ground cinnamon
• 1 g Ground cardamom
• 1 g Fine sea salt
Binding syrup:
• 80 g Brown sugar
• 80 g Local Honey (or date Molasses)
• 40 g Water
• 25 g clarified butter
• 10 g Cocoa powder
Finishing:
• 100 g Dark chocolate 64–70%
⸻
Method
1. Toast cereals & seeds: Spread oats, puffed quinoa, pumpkin seeds, and sunflower seeds on a tray. Toast at 150°C for 10–12 min until lightly golden.
2. Prepare syrup: Cook sugar, honey, and water together to 113°C. Off the heat, stir in butter paste and cocoa powder.
3. Combine: In a mixing bowl, combine toasted cereals, puffed rice, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, candied peel, and spices. Pour in the hot syrup and mix well to coat.
4. Mold: Spread mixture evenly into a 30 × 40 cm tray, 1 cm thick lined with silicone mat/parchment. Press firmly to compact.
5. Bake: Bake briefly at 160°C for 6–8 min to stabilize the bar. Cool completely at room temperature.
6. Cut & finish: For home cooks, Cut into 10 bars. Dip bases in melted dark or drizzle across the top then refrigerate to set the chocolate. For professional use, dip in tempered chocolate or place in molds then top it with tempered chocolate. Crystallize at 17°C before unmolding.
