Non-North Americans...sweets question

[brewerpaul]

There's a restaurant in Saratoga Springs that has S'mores for dessert. They give you the ingredients and a little Sterno burner to make them yourself at the table. Kinda fun, but these are actually a bit too sweet for my taste. Now a nice bitter dark Chocolate Mousse...

[brewerpaul]

There's a restaurant in Saratoga Springs that has S'mores for dessert. They give you the ingredients and a little Sterno burner to make them yourself at the table. Kinda fun, but these are actually a bit too sweet for my taste. Now a nice bitter dark Chocolate Mousse...

[Walden]

Only the American missionaries.

This may be true. When I was growing up, we frequently had weiner roasts, and roasted marshmallows (especially at church Hallowe'en parties), but never did we make s'mores. I knew basically what they were, as there was something of a craze that happened when I was a kid, with companies producing s'mores flavor cereals, and granola bars and such. But I never saw actual s'mores or really even understood the process.

Reason I think Glauber may be telling the truth is that when I was a teenager, having moved to the Philippines, it was indeed American missionaries whom I first saw attempting to make s'mores (using local marshmallows, chocolate bars, and Graham crackers), though I still didn't really understand the concept.

I finally had one for the first time (only time, actually) a few years ago, in my twenties. It was good.

[amar]

graham...kelloggs...?

naa, i'll drop it..

[Walden]

graham...kelloggs...?

naa, i'll drop it..

Heh heh, you're actually on the right track; Graham and Kellogg were both religious "health" food reformers, who, ironically have come more to be identified with so-called junk food.

[Flyingcursor]

graham...kelloggs...?

naa, i'll drop it..

Heh heh, you're actually on the right track; Graham and Kellogg were both religious "health" food reformers, who, ironically have come more to be identified with so-called junk food.

How is Kellogg associated with junk food? Are you coppin' a 'tude toward Tony and Tucan?
They're GREAT!!!!

The Kellogg plant used to have guided tours. It was great. I always loved the smell of the huge corn roasters. Ummmmm. Afterward you got a complimentary six pack of mini cereal boxes.


See
http://inventors.about.com/library/inve ... graham.htm
or if you detest about.com then http://www.ivu.org/history/usa19/graham.html

What was the name of that movie with Matthew Broderick about the Kellogg sanitarium?

[tuaz]

Do you have marshmallows?
Do your kids make 'smores?

Sincerely,
Curious Cat

Singaporean here.

Marshmellows, yes.

S'mores: had only read in theory what it consisted of. Never knew what a graham cracker was. Until now. Thanks for the description in Brit-terms, Avan/Beth. I would say people here don't normally make these.

I noticed that all the American posters on this thread called a chocolate bar exactly that. Didn't you all use to use the much more generic "candy bar" to describe that? I always thought the latter usage was not accurate enough.

[anniemcu]

[What was the name of that movie with Matthew Broderick about the Kellogg sanitarium?

Wasn't it something like "Wellsville"?...

[mvhplank]

Do you have marshmallows?
Do your kids make 'smores?

Sincerely,
Curious Cat

Singaporean here.

Marshmellows, yes.

S'mores: had only read in theory what it consisted of. Never knew what a graham cracker was. Until now. Thanks for the description in Brit-terms, Avan/Beth. I would say people here don't normally make these.

I noticed that all the American posters on this thread called a chocolate bar exactly that. Didn't you all use to use the much more generic "candy bar" to describe that? I always thought the latter usage was not accurate enough.

My mom was a Girl Scout leader in Alabama as I was growing up. As we also did a lot of camping, my sisters and I grew up to be intimately familiar with s'mores. I always thought of it as a Girl Scout thing.

Anyway, we never called the chocolate part either a "chocolate bar" nor a "candy bar" but a "Hershey bar." For us, it had to be that particular brand because it was scored so that 4 little squares were just the right size to fit on half a graham cracker.

What I'm trying to recall is whether the original Hershey bar was 6 or 8 squares long. If it were 8, you could make 2 s'mores, if 6, you'd need 2 bars to make 3 s'mores.

M

[Tyghress]

M, I agree...it was ALWAYS Hershey's, never another brand.

And to me a candy bar implies something other than chocolate, such as nougat or caramel or something else coated with chocolate. To me, if you take choco and maybe mix something in (almonds, toffee bits, raisins) you still have a chocolate bar.

[Wombat]

No s'more's here either but I had the pleasure of saying no to marshmellows only yesterday. Actually I like them sometimes but they are too sweet for me in certain moods. I have a dim recollection of an American friend once trying in vain to persuade us to try them—s'mores that is.

We have no Graham crackers here and if we did we'd call them biscuits. Crackers in Australia are fireworks.

Now I might just be imagining this but I'm fairly sure that I've heard of people melting marshmellows in hot chocolate and drinking the result. Anybody else heard of that?

[Tyghress]

Actually, you just float the marshmallow in the hot chocolate and it forms an ultrasweet scum on the top of the drink. Its okay, but not as good as fresh whipped cream.

Another use for marshmallows here in the States is in a sweet potato (or yam) casserole as a topping. If I recall, this sort of thing is more Southern cooking than Northern. Or mix marshmallows with canned (yuk!) cocktail fruit and shredded sweetened coconut for something called 'ambrosia'.

Me, I just take my marshmallows toasted!

[tuaz]

...
We have no Graham crackers here and if we did we'd call them biscuits. Crackers in Australia are fireworks. ....

Don't you have Englishy things like Jacobs cream crackers? I would have thought that particular usage of "crackers" would not have been unusual.

I would say however that based on avan's description of graham crackers, they sound more biscuit-y than cracker-y.

And this thread reminds me of discussions I've had in other forums about things like Bovril, Ovaltine vs. Milo, etc, which are food items that might not be so common in USA (not sure about Canada).

And on a biscuit-related note, here in Singapore there are some neighbourhood shops that sell all sorts of biscuits by the 100g. They're displayed in giant clear jars, nameless and brandless, and some are ripoffs of well-known biscuits like Oreos, Ritz crackers, Jacobs Gem biscuits with a swirl of coloured icing sugar stuck to the top of each Gem, etc. But there are also old favourite types that have been around so long, I've always assumed they were original local confections.

So you can imagine my surprise when I discovered that one of my favourite type of biscuits, was a copy or adaptation of an English brand of biscuit called "Jammy Dodgers". Apparently it's an old brand in England, and it makes me wonder just how many of the other local biscuits were copies of English brands long-forgotten in Singapore as we move further and further away from our British colony past.

[Wombat]

...
We have no Graham crackers here and if we did we'd call them biscuits. Crackers in Australia are fireworks. ....

Don't you have Englishy things like Jacobs cream crackers? I would have thought that particular usage of "crackers" would not have been unusual.

Yes we do, but for something like Jacobs' Cream Crackers to be called crackers they would have to be imported, as Jacobs' indeed are. If a biscuit were Australian-made and called a cracker I think it would have to be a dry base for savouries, and even then it would more likely be called a crispbread. But terminology migrates and I might be a bit out of date, although a quick check of my pantry suggested I'm not. The generic term for all these things is still biscuit—that's the sign you look for whether you want cream biscuits, digestives, chocolate mint slices or a savoury base for cheese or oysters.

[Redwolf]

I miss s'mores. Vegetarian marshmallows are nearly impossible to find...even the kosher ones are usually made with fish gelatin, and the one brand I've been able to find that isn't is only available around Passover, and apparently only comes coated with coconut!

What ever happened to marshmallows made with marshmallow instead of gelatin?

Redwolf

P.S. S'mores were a Campfire Girl thing too.