Wikipedia

Fluffernutter

sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow fluff

A Fluffernutter is a sandwich made with peanut butter and marshmallow creme. It is usually served on white bread. Some recipes have wheat bread instead of white bread. Many sweets and salty, savory ingredients can be added for enjoyment. Foods with peanut butter and marshmallow creme can also be called fluffernutters.

Fluffernutter sandwich
A Fluffernutter sandwich before assembly
Alternative namesLiberty sandwich
Place of originUnited States
Region or stateNew England
Created byGeorge Newman
Main ingredientsPeanut butter, marshmallow creme

In June 2006, Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett Barrios proposed an act to stop serving Fluffernutter sandwiches in public schools.[1][2] Barrios' supporters pointed to the problem of childhood obesity.[3] Massachusetts State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein planned to "fight to the death for Fluff". She supported acts that would make the Fluffernutter the official state sandwich.[2] The measure failed, and Reinstein tried again unsuccessfully in 2009.[4]

Recipe and variations

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A Fluffernutter is made by spreading peanut butter on a slice of white bread, then spreading marshmallow creme on another slice. When the two breads are put together, they make a sandwich.[5] Different recipes have wheat bread instead of white bread,[6] and Nutella hazelnut spread instead of peanut butter.[7] Sweet ingredients can be added like bananas.[8]Salty ingredients like bacon can also be added.[9] The Fluffernutter is like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The fluffernutter is often seen as a food for children,[10] but adults like it too. For example, in a restaurant, a chef serves a Fluffernutter hors d'oeuvre in a toasted ice cream cone with a spoon of peanut butter and torched marshmallow creme on top.[11]

The term fluffernutter has also been used to describe other foods that have peanut butter and marshmallow creme. There are Fluffernutter cookies, Fluffernutter bars, and Fluffernutter cupcakes.[12][13] Durkee-Mower has a cookbook that has recipes for Fluffernutter bars, frostings, pies and a shakes.[14] In 2006, Brigham's Ice Cream and Durkee-Mower made a Fluffernutter ice cream flavor. The flavor had peanut butter and Marshmallow Fluff in vanilla ice cream.[15] Fluffernutter was also the name of a candy made by the Boyer Brothers candy company starting in 1969.[16]

 
Fluffernutter put together

History

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One of the main ingredients of the Fluffernutter is Marshmallow Creme. It was invented in the early 20th century by Archibald Query. During World War I, Emma Curtis published a recipe for the Liberty Sandwich, which consisted of peanut butter and Marshmallow Creme on oat or barley bread.[17] The recipe was published in a promotional booklet sent to Curtis' customers in 1918. It may be the origin of the Fluffernutter sandwich.[18] Earlier labels and booklets by the Curtises suggested combining Snow Flake Marshmallow Creme with peanut butter or eating it on sandwiches with chopped nuts or olives.[18]

Meanwhile, sugar shortages during World War I hurt sales of Archibald Query's Marshmallow Creme. Query sold his recipe in 1920 to H. Allen Durkee and Fred L. Mower from Swampscott, Massachusetts. The two men began selling the product through their company, Durkee-Mower Inc. They renamed the product Toot Sweet Marshmallow Fluff. Durkee-Mower continues to sell the product under the name Marshmallow Fluff.[19] The sandwich was not called a Fluffernutter until 1960.[19][17] Fluffernutter is a registered trademark of Durkee-Mower. The company's U.S. trademark registrations for the term cover only ice cream and printed recipes. In 2006, Durkee-Mower sued Williams-Sonoma Inc. in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts, alleging that Williams-Sonoma infringed on its trademark by selling a marshmallow and peanut butter chocolate-covered candy under the Fluffernutter name.[20]

In June 2006, Massachusetts State Senator Jarrett Barrios gained national attention when he proposed legislation restricting the serving of Fluffernutter sandwiches in public schools. After Barrios learned that his son was served Fluffernutters on a daily basis at his Cambridge, Massachusetts, public elementary school, he created an amendment to a junk food bill that aimed to limit the serving of Fluffernutters in Massachusetts public schools to once a week.[21][2] The proposal was criticized as an example of trivial and overly intrusive legislation, while Barrios' supporters pointed to concerns over the problem of childhood obesity.[21] Among the people who defended the Fluffernutter at the time was Massachusetts State Representative Kathi-Anne Reinstein, whose district in Revere was close to Lynn, where Marshmallow Fluff is made.[2] She claimed she planned to "fight to the death for Fluff" and supported legislation that would make the Fluffernutter the official state sandwich.[2] The measure failed, and Reinstein tried again unsuccessfully in 2009.[17][4] Supporters of the bill cited the sandwich's close association with childhood and Massachusetts.[4]

In culture

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The term fluffernutter has sometimes been used to describe something that has minimal to no cultural value.[22][23] Some writers look at Fluffernutters and marshmallow creme as regional pride.[21][24]

The sandwich has close ties to New England, particularly to Somerville, Massachusetts, where Archibald Query invented Marshmallow Fluff, and to Lynn, Massachusetts, where Durkee-Mower has produced it for decades.[10] Somerville holds an annual festival called What the Fluff? based around celebrating Marshmallow Fluff and Fluffernutter sandwiches. The festival incorporates music, visual art, games and a cooking contest based around Fluff and Fluffernutters. In 2011, NASA astronaut Richard Michael Linnehan, who was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, and ate a Fluffernutter while aboard the International Space Station, acted as one of the contest judges.[25]

References

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fluffernutter.
  1. ↑ Calloway, LeMont "The war on Fluffernutter escalates in Legislature" Boston Globe, June 21, 2006
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 LeBlanc, Steve (26 June 2006). "Fluffernutter Sandwich Angers Mass. Senator". Fox News. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  3. ↑ McKenna, Philip (June 19, 2006). "Can this spread be stopped? Lawmaker wants schools to put a lid on Fluff". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Nicas, Jack (23 September 2009). "Gooey treat Fluffernutter proposed as official state sandwich". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 5 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Chmelynski, Carol. "Fluff Worth Fighting For." American School Board Journal 193.9 (2006): 10.
  6. ↑ Miller, Michelle (25 November 2010). "Be Thankful That Tastes Change". Tampa Bay Times.
  7. ↑ Schwartz, Justin (2004). The Mashmallow Fluff Cookbook. Durkee-Mower. p. 122. ISBN 9780762418336. Retrieved 2017-08-31.[permanent dead link]
  8. ↑ "History of Fluffernutter Sandwich". What's Cooking in America. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  9. ↑ Bruning, Fred (21 January 2012). "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Bacon". Newsday. Archived from the original on 7 April 2014. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 "Fluffernutter sandwich is good, but is it the state sandwich?". The Boston Globe. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  11. ↑ Fitzgerald, Maureen (1 December 2011). "Bite-size foods cherished from childhood are served by a New York caterer at the most swellegant holiday parties". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
  12. ↑ "Fluffernutter Cookies Recipe". BettyCrocker.com. Betty Crocker. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  13. ↑ Bilderback, Leslie (2008). The Complete Idiot's Guide to Snack Cakes. Alpha. p. 256. ISBN 978-1-59257-737-8.
  14. ↑ "The Online Yummy Book". marshmallowfluff.com. Durkee-Mower. Archived from the original on 26 March 2006. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "Brigham's, Durkee-Mower team up for Fluffernutter ice cream". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  16. ↑ "The Boyer Story". Boyer Brothers. Archived from the original on 3 May 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 Stern, Jane (2011). The Lexicon of Real American Food. Lyons press. p. 110. ISBN 9780762760947. Retrieved 2017-08-31.[permanent dead link]
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Alverson, Brigid. "Fluff? Smac? Marshmallows, made in Melrose?". Melrose Mirror. Archived from the original on 2 November 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2012.
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 "Inventor of the Week: Archibald Query". Lemelson-MIT. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "Williams-Sonoma sued over 'Fluffernutter'". msnbc.com. March 8, 2006. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 McKenna, Philip (June 19, 2006). "Can this spread be stopped? Lawmaker wants schools to put a lid on Fluff". The Boston Globe. Retrieved September 14, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Top Picks: 4th of July on PBS, letters to Harry Potter, jazz masters, and more; PBS presents their annual "A Capitol Fourth" concert, Harry Potter's fan mail, Sony celebrates 40 years of jazz, and more recommendations". The Christian Science Monitor. 30 June 2011.
  23. ↑ Louderback, Jim (30 August 2010). "There, I Said It: Screw Viral Videos". Ad Age. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  24. ↑ "State Senator Wants Fluff Off School Menus". TheBostonChannel.com. 19 June 2006. Retrieved 8 March 2012.[permanent dead link]
  25. ↑ Twardzik, Cathleen (22 September 2011). "It's 'What the Fluff?' time again in Somerville". The Somerville News. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
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