In Praise of a Cookie 

We picked up friends returning from a trip to Florida the other night at the airport. Originally scheduled to land at 3:30 p.m., the plane was delayed and finally landed at 10:05 p.m. We were all tired and hungry and immediately headed for the nearest diner. 

After dinner we piled back in the car for the short ride home. Mr. K reached into his backpack, “I brought you guys dessert,” slowly pulled his hand out of the bag and triumphantly raised high –

A box of MALLOMARS!

We perked up for our special treat. Diets be damned. Mallomars are special.

Mallomars are a part of my childhood. I guess they were expensive compared to other bakery items because we did not have them around the house all the time. When a box appeared my sister and I dived for our share of the treats. Any remaining cookies mysteriously disappeared overnight (we suspected Dad was the cookie culprit). 

Mallomars are addictive. If I did not hide them from Hub they would not last a day.  They also have a freshness seal inside. Really, why doesn’t Nabisco save the money? I doubt any Mallomars purchasers keep a box long enough to need a freshness seal.

I am not sure what it is about Mallomars that makes them so delicious, addictive, desirable, precious, a favorite of so many, the ultimate fun food…perfect! 

A confection similar to Mallomars was invented in Denmark in the 19th century, called  Flødeboller (cream buns), and later produced by the company Viau in Montreal by 1901. Nabisco, today a division of Mondelez International, created and produced the first Mallomar cookies in West Hoboken, NJ in 1913. 

Mallomars are made today in a factory in Toronto, Canada. They are similar to a Canadian-brand confection called Whippets.

Mallomars consist of a graham cracker circle covered with marshmallows and coated in a thin dark chocolate shell. The cookie is most popular in the Northeast, especially in the New York area. The Mallomars box states “more than 70% of all Mallomars sales are generated in the shadow of the Big Apple.” The fact that our friends found Mallomars in a sea of boxes at a Florida grocery store attests to the fact that New Yorkers demand their favorite cookie wherever they wander.

Mallomars were unavailable in summer. Decades ago it was difficult to prevent chocolate products from melting in the heat as bakery items made their way from factories, across miles of hot countryside to warehouses, then into stores.  Although we can put a man on the moon and produce food products that last years, Mallomars remain unavailable in summer. The seasonal availability has not been ignored or gone unnoticed by Mallomars lovers. Their seasonal availability contributes to the confection’s mystique.

Mallomars have become a part of our culture:

Mallomars are mentioned in two episodes of The Golden Girls. On one occasion, Blanche tells the other girls to tell her their bad news so she can get hysterical and eat a box of Mallomars. In another episode Rose interjects during a discussion on literature, mistaking Malamud for Mallomars.

In act one of the play The Odd Couple, Oscar Madison offers Felix Ungar Mallomars while trying to cheer him up after Felix and his wife break up.

In a scene from the film When Harry Met Sally. Harry watches TV on New Year’s Eve with a box of Mallomars, referring to them as “the greatest cookie of all time”.

From a The Sopranos episode: “Sunday, my house, box of Mallomars on the counter.”

Mallomars are mentioned during the Conan O’Brien skit “Pierre Bernard’s Recliner of Rage”, where Pierre complains about the inability to get Mallomars during the summer months.

It is Mallomar season. Enjoy!


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2 responses to “In Praise of a Cookie ”

  1. Laurie Stone Avatar

    Yum. Now you’re getting my sweet tooth going!

  2. Carol Cassara Avatar

    OMG i haven’t thought of them in ages!

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