It’s October and That Means M-m-mallomars!
By NYLady
You Don't Know What You're Missing
If you live in New York or New Jersey, then you understand the title of this hub. If not, read on and see what you're missing. In October, we New Yorkers (and the lucky people in a few other parts of the country) know that means one thing: Mallomar season.
Even though Mallomars are very nearly impossible to describe, many writers have nevertheless tried.
The New York Times once devoted a feature story to Mallomars - "The Cookie That Comes Out in the Cold." And King Kaufman of Salon, in an article titled "Mallomar Memories," paid homage to the chocolate cookie this way:
"Mallomars. Say it with me: Mallomars. They sound exactly like they taste. Sweet, soft in the middle Mallomars, rolling on the Mallomars tongue Mallomars. All rounded corners and smooth glass brown chocolate Mallomars. Yes I said yes I will Yes Mallomars. Mmmm. Allomars."
A Brief Shelf Life
Mallomars appear magically each October and almost exclusively in New York. In fact, 70 percent of the Mallomars distributed by Nabisco end up in New York, because the cookie originated in the New York-New Jersey area. The yellow cellophane boxes begin appearing on the end-of-aisle displays in my neighborhood grocery store, piled high and setting my tummy aflutter and reminding me to make room in my freezer. My husband hoards them to get him (and me) through the long winter and even into spring.
Although the cookie was seasonal back in the early 1900s for good reason -- the chocolate would melt in transit during warmer weather -- modern-day manufacturing makes it possible for most chocolate items to stay on the shelf at any time of the year without melting. So what gives?
In a recent item celebrating the return of Mallomars, Newsday's "Pet Rock: The Pop Culture Blog" asked the same question, wondering out loud if the disppearance and reappearance of Mallomars is "a sneaky Nabisco marketing ploy -- ratcheting up demand like a street dealer holding out on the goods until we return in September, scratching and drooling and oblivious to personal hygiene."
An Unscientific Mallomar Poll
Are Mallomars Available Where you Live?
See results without votingHow to Munch on a Mallomar
In case you haven't met one, Mallomars are about the size of a silver dollar, and are made up of a small marshmallow on top of a round graham cracker. Then the marshmallow and graham cracker are covered in a hard chocolate coating. Mallomars come 18 to a box (not enough, if you ask me), and each serving of two Mallomars has 110 calories, five grams of fat, and 12 grams of sugar. And they haven't changed since 1913.
Mallomars lovers differ in how they eat the cookies. Mr. Kaufman of Salon wrote that there are only three "officially sanctioned" ways to eat Mallomars: "biting off the marshmallow part and saving the graham cracker for last (superior method); biting off the graham cracker and saving the marshmallow part for last (dorsal method); and biting into the cookie like regular food (lateral, or standard, method)."
An American Icon
Even though they're not available everywhere, Mallomars are an important part of our culture. Among other things, they're featured in Wally Lamb's novel, "She's Come Undone," and in the Nora Ephron film "When Harry Met Sally." Mallomars have also made appearances in episodes of "The Gilmore Girls", "Seinfeld" and "The Simpsons". And who can forget the scene in "The Sopranos", when mafia Don Tony Soprano scares the daylights out of friend Paulie after thinking he's stolen from his box of Mallomars?
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Comments
LOL NY Lady! You and I are on parallel tracks about October sweets! People are actually bidding $33+ for a six-pack of Mallomars? Good grief! I have fond memories of them from my LI childhood, but had NO IDEA they were a collector's item.
The closest we can come out here in CA is uncooked s'mores. Not even close (and not just cuz they're square and not round/domed). GREAT HUB!
EM Writes: Hope you get a chance to try them sometime!
Hey Mighty Mom: I can't believe people are bidding on boxes of Mallomars now, but I guess if you live far away from them, you'll do anything. Thanks!
Definitely going to add it to the list of things I want to do before I die. I thought I'd found the treasure of NY the first time I had a slice of cheesecake from the Carnegie Deli. Obviously, I was in the city at the wrong time of year.
CCCCHHHHHHEEEEEEESSSSSEEEEECCCCAAAAKKKKEEEEE! Now we're talking! It's pretty hard to do better than the Carnegie Deli (the ambiance makes everything taste more "New York"). But it is possible to get decent NY-style cheesecake. Em, I tried to locate the 2 companies I can recommend to you for another slice of NY heaven. Alden Merrell in Newburyport, MA is fabulous. But they don't have a website. Out here, Studebaker makes a delicious NY style cheesecake also. But they don't seem to have a website, either!
Maybe if you're real nice NY Lady will share her Mallomars, tho:-)!!
I have no idea why you are making such a big fuss over some chocolate cookie but you have made it sound like it is definitely worth my while to find out. I will look out for it the next time I drop by the supermarket - hope they ship to my part of the world. :)
Nope we do not have then in South Africa, however we have similar type of cookie called a "Cuttie Pie", only this dosn't have a mellow in it but that squishy soft confectioners snow.
Sound like Nabasco is rounded the market fo Mallomars. [;-O)
I saw a food program on these and they sound wonderful...they did the whole History about these...most interesting and you did very well too my dear Thanks and I'll take a box or two LOL...G-Ma :o) hugs
EM Writes: I'll send you a box if you send your mailing address to me. Can't vouch for whether they'll melt, though!
Mighty Mom: What about Junior's Cheesecakes? They're pretty good.
Wandererh: You can get them from eBay and Amazon, too. This time of year, the shipping will be fine.
Thanks, G-Ma and Just Rodney.
To all: I must be honest -- my husband absolutely loves these and I can take them or leave them. I like them, but don't lust after them.
I've had them, and I live on the West Coast. I don't remember where I got one, though.
KT: Ooh -- bootleg Mallomars! Thanks for the comment.
Oh I simply love chocolate cookies. Fantastic stuff. Check out my latest hub NYLady. Here it is http://hubpages.com/hub/LG-KC780-has-got-a-whoppin
Thanks, Britney. i will check out your hub.
Thanks for the hub, NYLady. I saw the title and as someone who grew up in Bergen County, NJ (I could smell the Nabisco factory from my elementary school), I thought "Mallomars? Gross! Why would anyone devote a hub to those icky, fluffy chocolate-covered things". But I read it anyway, and now, thanks to your photos and descriptive language, I have a massive Mallomars craving! I didn't even like them when I was growing up, but now that I live in Arizona, with nary a Mallomar in sight, I simply must have one!
That's so funny, Melissa. Really, I'm not as crazy about them as my husband. He stuffs the refrigerator this time of year and I get sick of seeing them. Absence makes the heart grow fonder -- of Mallomars, anyway.
Hi NY Lady, Thought of you and this hub today. I was scanning our bookcase looking for Nora Ephron's "I'm sorry about my neck..." book (never did find it) but came across Wally Lamb's "She's come undone." Now I have to go back and reread it to find the Mallomar connection LOL.
What are we going to do when Girl Scout Cookie time comes around -- roll a dice or virtual arm wrestle to see who gets to write about them :-)? Tell you what, I'll do fruitcake and you can do Valentine's conversation hearts. That's fair, dontcha think!?
Totally fair, MM. I hate conversation hearts AND fruitcake. But Girl Scout cookies? Yum!! I vaguely remember in She's Come Undone that Mallomars play a part in her obvious weight problem. I LOVE Wally Lamb and keep waiting for him to write another novel. I actually LOVED "I Know This Much is True??" (I think that's the name of it). Read it ages ago.
I thought twizzlers and cola were mostly to blame for the weight gain in She's Come Undone? It's been about 10 years since I read it, though, so I could be wrong. I thought about Mallomars as I drifted off to sleep last night, and I'm still trying to convince myself that I don't really want any. :) And I agree, "I Know This Much is Truth" is a fantastic book. I checked BN.com and apparently, he has another novel coming out next month called "The Hour I First Believed." I can hardly wait!
Melissa:
I do remember the Twizzlers. I'm going to have to find the book and mention of Mallomars. I am so excited that Wally's finally doing another novel!! I have to tell Mighty Mom. Thanks for the comment.
I want one! They sound delicious. The only thing close to a mallomar I've had is a smore. I think it's time I live on the edge!
Em Writes 3 years ago
I've never had a Mallomar and, after reading this hub, I truly feel as though something is missing from my life.
A delicious read.