What are marshmallows?
Marshmallows are a white, fluffy candy, that easily melts and becomes sticky. They are almost all sugar (and corn syrup which is also sugar), with whipped gelatine. They're vanilla flavored, usually with clear vanillin, because the pure whiteness is the very essence of the candy.



They're sometimes colored, but not usually:



The little ones are often served in hot chocolate milk, and they're often used as ingredients in other things like fudge.

It's also very traditional to skewer them on a stick and roast them over a campfire:

 

Put the roasted marshmallow between graham crackers with chocolate, you have a s'more, a favorite snack of campers everywhere.

Here's a tour of a huge marshmallow factory: YouTube video with some fun trivia too.

Here's a homemade version that I have done, complete with handy video, it's kind of a fun afternoon: Alton Brown's Marshmallows