Photo: Matthew J. Lee/Globe Staff.
Justin Tseng of Medford eating Gracie Ice Cream’s toasted Fluff cone during the annual Fluff Festival in Somerville’s Union Square in September.
Not a bit nourishing, but beloved of its hometown in Massachusetts is the candy-like marshmallow spread known as Fluff. Moms I knew back in the day used it to get their kids to eat peanut butter sandwiches.
Somerville has an annual celebration to honor the local product, and the Boston Globe covered this year’s.
Camille Bugayong wrote, “Packed crowds wandered through Union Square in Somerville to celebrate a staple of New England, marshmallow Fluff, which was first concocted in the neighborhood more than a century ago. Twelve o’clock came and went, and an hour before the 21st annual Fluff Festival officially began, there was already a line outside Honeycomb Creamery for its fluff ice cream taco. …
“This year’s theme, ‘Legally Fluff,’ is a nod to the festival’s 21st birthday, and the menu and artwork leaned into it. New this year is an expanded route to accommodate the festival’s 100 plus vendors that sell marshmallow-Fluff themed food, drinks, and art.
“ ‘It’s not randomly like, “Oh, we all like Fluff,” ‘ said Jen Palacio, vice president of the board of Union Square Main Streets, [which] runs the festival. ‘Fluff was invented here, we’re patriotic.’
“The festival is also a major fund-raiser for the nonprofit, bringing in money through vendor fees and merchandise. Palacio said it doesn’t cover the organization’s entire annual budget, but it helps fund ongoing operations, which matters more now that federal funding has been cut. …
“Vendors are encouraged to put Fluff on their products. Himalayan Kitchen, a Nepalese restaurant in the neighborhood, served Fluff-covered momos and Fluff mango lassi. A Cape Cod vendor called Lighthouse Keepers made a signature Fluff coffee drink. Kuya’s Cooking, a Filipino catering service, made an ube-Fluff cannoli.
“Elsewhere, the Somerville High robotics team showed off a robot that toasts a graham cracker, drops a marshmallow on it, and squishes it into a s’more. …
“On the Shenanigan Stage, a board member dressed as Fluff inventor Archibald Query hosted Fluff jousting, Fluff limbo, and Fluff musical chairs, where one of the chairs is covered in the stuff. …
“The one thing nobody else sells is the classic fluffernutter (a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich). That right belongs to the Somerville High School music department, whose students spent Friday’s school day making roughly 2,000 fluffernutters and 500 Rice Krispie treats. …
“Shayna Kantor, 24, moved to Somerville last September and is now returning to the festival for a second year. To today’s festival, she wore last year’s special edition Fluff Festival shirt to show her pride.
“ ‘This is a huge turnout that very much embodies Somerville,’ Kantor said.”
More at the Globe, here. Apologies to all the serious gourmets and chefs out there. Fluff is one of those American things that are just hard to understand.
