Eat this Word: S'mores

by jbfauthor on June 22, 2009

WHAT? Treats we can't get enough of. Classically, s'mores are made from Graham crackers, Hershey bars, and store-bought marshmallows. They are the darlings of Girl Scouts and campers everywhere. The name, of course, derives from eager campers asking for "some more." Over the course of the last decade, the snack has gotten the gourmet treatment at upscale restaurants like the French Laundry. A recipe from 27 Standard (now closed), posted on Epicurious.com, instructs cooks to make their own Graham crackers, marshmallows, malt sauce, and frozen cocoa mousse. Whew! Who has the energy to sing around the campfire after whipping that up? In contrast, a recipe in the 1927 Girl Scout handbook had just three ingredients, and the chocolate of choice in our summer camp days was Hershey's milk chocolate bars. Then there's the Luna™ S'mores bar, made of soy nuggets, brown rice syrup, and decaffeinated green tea extract. That version would probably please 19th-century diet reformer Sylvester Graham, for whom Graham crackers were named. He advocated a vegetarian diet sans spicy foods, strong cheese, white bread, sugar, coffee, tea, and alcohol. (He thought sex was bad for you, too.) WHERE? Michael DiBianca's Beard House dinner WHEN? June 24, 2009 HOW? Drunken S’mores with Local Strawberries, Brandied Cherry Syrup, 
and Fried Mint