There’s nothing quite like making a s’more above the campfire with your best friends or family. The incredible textures and flavors of graham crackers with warm marshmallow and melted chocolate – its one of the best desserts ever! However, despite how often we indulge in these delectable treats, many do not know the history of s’mores. Read on to discover how s’more became one of the most beloved desserts of all time…
The Crunchiness
All great things have humble beginnings, just like the s’more. In the early 19th century, New Jersey Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham began preaching a new version of eating clean: vegetarianism. While vegetarianism certainly wasn’t truly “new,” few Americans practiced it at that time. Graham believed that food like greasy steaks and sugary sweets made human beings desire more, and that desire led to moral corruption. So, he developed a new diet, around “plain” foods, including water, vegetables, and homemade bread.
However, over time, Graham and his followers realized that they did want something sweet from time to time. So, he began to develop a cookie using “finely ground, unbleached wheat flour, wheat bran, and coarsely ground germ.” The result? The Graham Cracker that we all known and love today. Still, Graham Crackers are just the first part of making the perfect s’more!
That Perfect Sweetness
While the entire history of chocolate is far too long for an article of this nature, s’mores did not come around until long in America’s history. That’s because, for quite some time, it was hard to get chocolate to American, making recipes involving it quite useless. After years of struggling to find a reliable source in Europe or Africa, Milton Hershey found a way to make chocolate here in the United States in 1899. By 1900, the Hershey Company had already started to distribute chocolate all across the U.S. Today, Hershey Bars are still the preferred bars for many American’s s’mores!
It’s Not A S’more With A Marshmallow
Believe it or not, the history of marshmallows beings all the way back in Ancient Rome! It comes from a Greek plant, Althaea Officinalis, and the name uses the Greek “altheo” as the Greeks and Romans used to char the plant to heal wounded soldiers.
However, it was the French who nearly created the first marshmallows as we know them. When the cook combined the plant with an egg, it made a paste called pâté de guimauve. French doctors used pâté de guimauve to cure sore throats as it was warm, but incredibly sweet. Then, when pâté de guimauve mixed with gelatin, American chefs in Massachusetts created the first marshmallow!
Bringing It All Together
One of the first s’more variations came as a funeral cake in Victorian England. Yes, s’mores are that old! The funeral cake, made after the death of a loved one, included layers of chocolate cake and pâté de guimauve. Meanwhile, people started roasting marshmallows in the 1890s. In fact, Americans in the North East used marshmallow roasting circles as a common group date in the early 1900s! Teenagers had old-time fun by roasting the treats and eating them off each other’s sticks. Then, in 1913, the MoonPie debuted on the market, a packaged cookie with all the same ingredients of a s’more.
Finally, the first official recipe for a s’more debuted in 1927, in an Official Girl Scout Cookbook entitled Tramping and Trailing with the Girl Scouts. Originally called “Some More,” the recipe looks nearly identical to the one children and adults know and love today. Now, you know the history of s’mores! What a great thing to share with a crush over your next campfire!
Sources: Livestly, Wonderopolis.