treat respiratory and digestive ailments. Culinary Most of the mallows have been used as food, and are mentioned by early classic writers with this connection. Mallow was an edible vegetable among the Romans; a dish of marsh mallow was one of their delicacies. Prospero Alpini stated in 1592 that a plant of the mallow kind was eaten by the Egyptians. Many of the poorer inhabitants of Syria subsisted for weeks on herbs, of which marshmallow is one of the most common. When boiled first and fried with onions and butter, the roots are said to form a palatable dish, and in times of scarcity consequent upon the failure of the crops, this plant, which grows there in great abundance, is collected heavily as a foodstuff. The young leaves can be cooked. The flower buds can be pickled. The roots can be peeled, sliced, boiled and sweetened to make candy. Water used to boil any part of the plant can be used as an egg white substitute. The root extract (halawa extract) is sometimes used as flavoring in the making of halva. The later French version of the recipe, called (or for short), included an egg white meringue and was often flavored with rose water. more closely resembles contemporary commercially available marshmallows, which no longer contain Althaea officinalis. References Further reading External links Connecticut Botanical Society: Althaea officinalis Botanical.com: Mallows including Althaea officinalis USDA Plants profile: Althaea officinalis Malveae Medicinal plants of Africa Demulcents Plants used in traditional Chinese medicine Plants described in 1753 Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Saponaceous plants