So Tigger came closer, and leaned over the back of Roo’s chair, and suddenly he put out his tongue and took one large golollop, and with a sudden jump of surprise Kanga said “Oh!” and then clutched at the spoon again just as it was disappearing, and pulled it safely back out of Tigger’s mouth. But the Extract of Malt had gone.
“Tigger dear!” said Kanga.
“He’s taken my medicine, he’s taken my medicine, he’s taken my medicine!” sang Roo happily, thinking that it was a tremendous joke.
Then Tigger looked up at the ceiling, and closed his eyes, and his tongue went round and round his chops, in case he had left any outside, and a peaceful smile came over his face as he said, “So that’s what Tiggers like!”
Which explains why he always lived at Kanga’s house afterwards, and had Extract of Malt for breakfast, dinner and tea.
-A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner
Some people dislike the flavor of malt, and younger people usually have no idea what it is. I’ve always loved it. Malt is the sweet version of umami, the “fifth flavor” that makes savory, salty things taste so good.
The malted at Tommy’s on Coventry Street in Cleveland, Ohio, where they still know how to make it.
Malt is created by allowing a grain (usually barley) to sprout, then drying it in a kiln. The malting process creates enzymes that turn the starches in the grain to sugars, and it produces a characteristic, earthy flavor. There would be neither beer nor whiskey without the magic addition of malt.
In the early twentieth century, malt was universally extolled as a nutritional supplement. Children were given malt extract (Tigger’s favorite), and malted milk powder was added to all sorts of foods. Intrepid explorers took crates of malted milk to the Arctic.
Flaxman Island, Alaska, 1910: Ernest Leffingwell poses with crates of Horlick’s Malted Milk Powder. Source: Wikipedia
Today, all we have left in the US is malted milk balls (usually better in theory than in practice), the drink Ovaltine, and the classic chocolate malted. In the UK there is a “malt biscuit,” a cookie made with malted milk powder. That is something I’d like to try.
I’m not crazy about Whoppers because of the low quality, but I enjoy “artisanal” malted milk balls.
I don’t keep malted milk powder around, because I like to work through it slowly. But I have a Tigger in the house who would eat it for breakfast, dinner, tea and those other, secret meals that take place while I am sleeping or reading, or writing blog posts…
Linnet Moss 
What a sweet and malty post LM. Winnie the Pooh and his cohorts were a special part of my childhood. I love malt but don’t use it in any home baking. We do get a nice little malt bikkie in packets, probably the same as the UK version. An artisan version of a Malteser sounds super!
Thanks! I am determined to try out some malt cookies. I went to the store to get some Carnation Malted Milk Powder, but they don’t carry it any more! Probably I will be better off buying a better grade of it online…
Malted milk balls from a really good confectioner are a thing of beauty 🙂
I am very fond of A. A Milne as well. Something about his still evokes childhood like nothing else.
I was given malt beer as a child. The brand was Karamalz, and I’ve just checked – it still exists 😉
That’s great! Perhaps only in Germany would beer be given to children as a nutritional aid 🙂 What did it taste like?
Sweet and malty 😉
“Normal” beer (i.e. alcoholic) can be consumed from age 14 onwards.
I love malted milkshakes. And whoppers. Guilty pleasure. Artisanal malted milk balls? That sounds dangerously addictive. =)
Yes. Very dangerous!!
If I could create any other ode to a food, it’d have to be malt. Watching the malting process while working at a distillery is a heady affair–lengthy, but heady. And in the end quite magical.
And I’d second the choice of Maltesers over Whoppers, although our local Whole Foods makes some remarkably fabulous malted milk balls.
Two years ago, I made my own version for Christmas … with the addition of whisky.
*hic* Worth it.
OMG, whisky flavored malted milk balls? You have got my attention. Maybe you will publish the recipe???
I would like to smell the aroma of malting barley. I have no doubt that it is magical!
Done.
http://peakperspective.com/whisky-wise/single-malted-milk-chocolate-balls/
😀
These look divine 🙂
I used to buy that malted milk powder until I also found it missing in the stores. Even before that the ingredients list had been almost completely taken over by dry milk.
Some years ago a pastry chef made a cake for my father-in-law and covered the whole thing in crunchy malt crystals. It was the most luscious thing, and I determined to find that ingredient to use myself. It was not to be – I hunted everywhere and no one had ever heard of them. (The chef was unreachable.) Now that I see a thread here of malt lovers, is this something any of you have ever encountered? I know these were not just broken-up Whoppers because they had no chocolate mixed in.
Yes, I sure would love to know a source for the crystals you mention. Perhaps I’ll have to do some experiments! As for a powder other than Carnation, I’m thinking of trying King Arthur. It has very good recommendations online: http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/malted-milk-powder-16-oz
Oh, thank you for the link! Maybe with all the demand for vegan foods these days someone will start marketing malt powder without the added milk; then it would be even more malty 🙂 And if it were made from barley it could also be enjoyed by those avoiding gluten. I detect an entrepreneurial opportunity… and a reason to hope that the future may be brighter for malt-lovers.
Oops – I wrote too soon. Here is a vegan option: http://auntpattys.glorybee.com/shop/Dry-Barley-Malt.html
Lovely to have this! Thank you!
I could certainly go for a malted as a nice alternative to a mocha.
Oh yes, much tastier IMHO.