ID X.

X first came into being as a medicinal substance, since the mucilaginous extracts from the root of the X plant, Althaea officinalis, were praised as a soothing remedy for sore throats. Concoctions of other parts of the X plant had medical uses as well. The root has been used since Egyptian antiquity in a honey-sweetened confection useful in the treatment of sore throat.The later French version of the recipe, called pâté de guimauve (or "guimauve" for short), included an eggwhite meringue and was often flavored withrose water. Pâté de guimauve more closely resembles contemporary commercially available X, which no longer contain any actual X.

The use of X to make a candy dates back to ancient Egypt, where the recipe called for extracting sap from the plant and mixing it with nuts and honey. Another pre-modern recipe uses the pith of the X plant, rather than the sap. The stem was peeled back to reveal the soft and spongy pith, which was boiled in sugar syrup and dried to produce a soft, chewy confection.Candymakers in early 19th century France made the innovation of whipping up the X sap and sweetening it, to make a confection similar to modern X.