Academic Paper: The Domestic Delight of the Rice Krispies Treat
I would like to explain a situation
that happened the other evening after class when I stood in front of our
pantry. We were low on supplies - but not at a dead end - and I was
contemplating the newfound struggle of becoming a Florida resident and having
to become one of those people that
keep goods in their fridge because it’ll mold, be eaten by sugar ants within
hours, or become stale or saturated by humidity. And so, cabinet open, with a
hankering for something sweet, two half-open and mostly-stale, mostly-sticky
bags of marshmallows in my hands, I mentally kicked myself for not sticking
them in the fridge the day they were opened. My mind wandered to why we had two
in the first place and being slightly irked that they had both been opened at
some point and gone stale, I was determined to ensure they wouldn’t go to waste
because of my own oversight. What better way to harness the unique stickiness
that stale marshmallows possess than to make Rice Krispies Treats?
Darn. No Krispies. But I had
Cheerios. Add a dash of cinnamon and vanilla in the pot with butter and the
tacky ‘mallows. Wait for the meltdown. I kept pondering why anyone would want to stick these ingredients together into some
sticky block, wrap it up, and present it as a treat. Yet here we are, being
charmed by the perfectness of cute, shiny blue, individually wrapped, soft,
chewy, bubbly bricks that so neatly fit in our 2.5 children’s lunchboxes. How
did this come to be? When did cereal, a generic name for grass-based grain,
find its way into the sticky goop that are marshmallows? How are marshmallows
even made? Why are they in Jell-O casseroles, on top of sweet potatoes, and
incorporated into treat bars? So many questions to answer, but I had to start
somewhere - with the Rice Krispies Treat.
Rice Krispies Treats (as trademarked by Kellogg’s)[1]
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons butter
1 package of JET-PUFFED marshmallows
6 cups Kellogg’s Rice Krispies Cereal
Directions:
- In a large saucepan,
melt butter over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely
melted. Remove from heat.
- Add KELLOGG'S RICE
KRISPIES cereal. Stir until well coated.
- Using buttered spatula
or wax paper evenly press mixture into a 13 x 9 x 2-inch pan coated with
cooking spray. Cool. Cut into 2-inch squares. Best if served the same day.
While the official recipe is owned by Kellogg’s and
uses their name brand Rice Krispies, virtually any breakfast cereal can
substitute in. A little something extra like cinnamon or vanilla can be added
to the marshmallow gloop for a unique twist as well. Even alcohol like bourbon
or rum has been incorporated, turning this juvenile treat into an adult
indulgence. It is a recipe that has an iconic and simple standard with room for
culinary interpretation and freedom. Rice cakes of this sort are not uncommon
around the world - Asian cultures have created puffed rice cakes and treats,
using cane syrup, spices, fruits, and other ingredients to incorporate into a
far more global medley of flavors, all preserved in neat bricks and bars, both
highly stackable and snackable. They
keep relatively well for a while, and depending on what your preference is, can
be eaten immediately to achieve that soft gooey experience or stashed for a day
or two and have a tougher and chewier but equally satisfying treat.
The
Rice Krispies Treat was invented by an Iowan named Mildred Day with help from a
coworker, Malitta Jensen.[2] While
there is some debate between the version that Mildred and Malitta worked on -
which used a molasses and corn syrup base before moving to marshmallows - and
the one officially credited to the Home Economics Department of Kellogg, the
original recipe can be dated somewhere between the 1930s and 1950s, having gone
through a few different life cycles. First only offered and advertised as a
recipe by the company on their cereal box, the actual pre-packaged goodies in
their shiny blue sleeves didn’t appear on shelves to the public until the
1990’s.[3] Now,
they’re a household name used as a base in cake-making competitions and find
their way onto menus at state fairs and high-end restaurants alike.
Between
the 1930s and 1950s, home economics was a standard for the average female. In
fact, Mildred had secured a job with Kellogg’s before college graduation, her
interviewer being so impressed with her “table manners and home life.”[4] With an
entire department for Home Economics and a nationally recognized brand,
Kellogg’s took Mildred to about 38 states, interacting with women, caretakers,
mothers, wives, and new brides in test kitchens across the nation. The treat
really took off in popularity when the Camp Fire girls reached out to Kellogg’s
seeking ideas for a fundraiser. Mildred was sent off to help them, making batch
after batch of the treats with her own specialized equipment. The mothers of
the girls would wrap them up, stock their daughters, and send them off to sell
them door to door. While working with Kellogg’s, Mildred would also contribute
to the creation of the airline meal. She later worked for Pillsbury before
giving up her career to support her husband’s entrepreneurial spirit.
With Mildred’s particular story,
there is another layer that reveals the culinary preferences of Midwestern
households, from the grain- and cereal-based agricultural community dominating
the landscape to the typical casserole and Jell-O mold dinner stereotypes. The
vista of the Midwest is corn, soy, wheat, rice - for miles and miles that is
all the eyes can see. Nowadays the only thing breaking this vista apart is Don
Quixote’s nightmare - countless wind turbines. With this landscape yielding
these kinds of crops, which in turn are converted locally into commercial products,
local tastes typically align with what is familiar and known. Casseroles and
treat bars could be prepared within half an hour, stashed in the fridge until
dinner, and eaten as leftovers for lunch the next day or wrapped up neatly,
frozen, and eaten at a later date. They were one-dish meals incorporating
almost all of the food pyramid tiers, comprised of components grown in or
familiar to the neighborhood, making preparation and cleaning chores less a time-consuming
task after a full day of work as a domestic, a farmer, or a nine-to-five
employee.
It makes sense in the end. One can
justify our obsession with breakfast cereal and marshmallows by pointing sticky
fingers at consumerism, capitalism, sugar-dependency, and big industry. That
may be the case now, and it may have been the case then, but credit is owed to
the home life and simply put, time, or lack thereof, of homemakers and
sustenance-providers.
Culturally-speaking, Rice Krispies
Treats are a sort of stereotypical treat of the White-American Picky Eater -
one grain-based ingredient (that has been physically altered to be more
aesthetically enjoyable) and a lot of sugar and fat. Add the excuses that Rice
Krispies are “actually a breakfast food” and that “marshmallows technically
came from a plant” (which could easily be another paper on the disparity in
plant-human knowledge) and the result is a grab-and-go block of nutrition.
While this recipe is not elaborate, challenging, or particularly noteworthy to
any culinarian, the Rice Krispies Treat holds its own truth and importance in
its humble background, ingredients, and creation story by bringing to light the
expansive schedule and demands that the domestic woman experiences and is
required to respond to her in life. Whether that starts at a bake sale for
church or school fundraiser, the Rice Krispies Treat has made its presence
known in almost every corner of the United States.
[1] “The Original Rice Krispies Treat Recipe,”
Kellogg’s Rice Krispies,
https://www.ricekrispies.com/en_US/recipes/the-original-treats-recipe.html
[2] Tom Longden, “From the archives: Love Rice
Krispies Treats? You have an Iowan to thank,” Des Moines Register, last updated
March 18, 2020,
https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/entertainment/dining/2017/09/21/archives-love-rice-krispies-treats-you-have-iowan-thank/686025001/.
[3] Natasha Blakely, “The 80-year journey of the
Rice Krispies treat,” Battle Creek Inquirer, last updated December 28, 2017,
https://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/story/news/local/2017/12/20/80-year-journey-rice-krispies-treat/892431001/.
[4] Longden, “From the archives: Love Rice
Krispies Treats? You have an Iowan to thank.”
Written for: Harvard Extension School course American Eating: Succotash, Spam, and Cultures of Food with Professor Zoe Eddy, 2021
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