Tastemakers: S‘Mores/Rebujito

July 20, 2008

S’mores


It is s’more season for one of the most popular summertime desserts. In my family we make them year-round as we have a wood fireplace, so on occasion we roast marshmallows in the middle of winter.
In moments of idle time I think about weird things and recently, while enjoying a s’more, I wondered how they were invented. I remember as a kid there was this commercial on TV for Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups where a couple of kids accidently dipped chocolate into the peanut butter jar and the peanut butter cup was born. I wonder if some kid was roasting a marshmallow and pulled it from the fire only to have it hit a chocolate bar some other kid was holding?
No one knows for sure. The earliest known recipe of this popular campfire treat is found in the 1927 Girl Scout Handbook. While the basic ingredients are two graham crackers with a roasted marshmallow and a piece of Hersey’s chocolate in the center, making a sandwich, there are variations. I was recently at an event where they had a “gourmet s’more” bar. It featured different types of chocolate, from the traditional, to dark, to white. There was even coconut, strawberries, bananas and peanut butter.
The secret to a great s’more is that perfectly-roasted marshmallow that melts the chocolate. Only the campfire pies (the ones where you take pie filling, put it between two slices of bread and place it in a pie iron) rival s’mores as the best camping dessert.
My research came up empty on the origins of the s’more. But I did find out that August 10 is National S’more Day and I plan to celebrate.

Rebujito


They are called “girlie drinks.” The most popular of them is the Cosmopolitan, or as it is simply known, “The Cosmo.” I have always been the cocktail drinker in the family. It started on my 16th birthday when I was first served a Manhattan, the family cocktail. When I headed off to college, a roommate introduced me to the joys of a gin martini, and then when I moved to Traverse City in 1986, at then-Cherry Festival Director Doyle Heffron converted me to vodka martinis.
After several years of passing on cocktails and sticking to wine, my wife came to me one night as we were getting ready to have some before-dinner appetizers, and asked me to make her a Cosmo. Taken aback, I inquired about the sudden interest. Her response was, after watching several episodes of “Sex and the City” she wanted to try one of these cocktails that the show’s characters were constantly enjoying.
While that program helped to popularize the Cosmo, another “girlie drink” is making its way to the forefront and is being enjoyed by both men and women alike. It is called the Rebujito. Developed in Spain a few years back, it is not because of a TV show, but for health reasons that the cocktail has been sweeping Europe and now is becoming popular in the states.
Made with fino sherry, citrus fruits and Sprite or other citrus type sodas, this cocktail is lighter in alcohol content and is refreshing. It is being touted as the health-conscious cocktail. Ask for one today. The great thing from a guy’s perspective is, the drink is not pink.