Mallows

Including common mallow, marsh mallow, and whorled mallow (ah-ook in Korean)

Marsh mallow (Althaea officinalis) surprises most Americans, who wonder what a squishy confection called “marshmallow” could have in common with a European shrub that clusters around salt marshes, damp meadows, and tidal rivers. Plenty, at one time; and little to nothing, now. The confection we know as marshmallow was formerly made from the plant’s roots— and still is in some culinarily civilized corners of Europe. All mallows exude a soft mucilage; in the case of marsh mallow, this was the base of the candy that took its name in English.