The Perfect S'more
On the first cold weekend in October, I decided to go camping by myself for the first time. I rented a cabin, packed up my car, and drove to Ithaca NY to Buttermilk Falls Park.
By the time I’d gotten there, it was almost dark. It had been a wet day but I was determined to make a fire. The biggest reason was pride. I had told my roommate the one thing I was capable of doing was starting a fire, but also because I craved the warmth in the damp. I managed the first night. But it was on that second night was when I began to discover the true complexity of the perfect s’more.
The flames offer warmth under the grey night sky and persistent drizzle. A young green branch in hand, I pierce pillows of sugar and childhood delight. The fire consumes them both but not in a hungry way, they lick both branch and marshmallow, sticky sweet, and warm. The flames taste them like a fine wine. And when the flames have kissed the silky marshmallow, I wrap it in a crunch graham cracker on a blanket of almost too dark chocolate.
Bitter, sweet, a toasty finish. The s’more is gone as quickly as it was made. Disappearing into the ether of consumed desserts that were too delicious for this world. Leaving only the smell of a campfire, sticky fingers, and a soulful desire for more.
The perfect s’more is only devoured beside a campfire, any other kind of s’more is a poor imitation of greatness. It’s why restaurants take such great pains to create the perfect atmosphere to enjoy a meal- the campfire is what makes the s’more a true s’more.
I spent the first weekend in October camping by myself in Ithaca NY. And I enjoyed every minute of it, including the way too many s’mores I consumed.
On my quest for the perfect s’more I’ve decided in order for a s’more to be perfect it must contain these three things.
Plain graham crackers: these are the vehicle for your s’more, crunchy, subtle sweet and earthy. The cinnamon is a distraction
Rich dark chocolate: No milk chocolate here. And not because most milk chocolate is not plant-based. No, it’s because you need that bitter, rich flavor to contrast all the sweet sticky goodness in the marshmallow and graham cracker.
Marshmallows: perfectly toasted and gooey, requiring patience that no child shall ever possess
To produce the perfect s’more:
Place your graham crackers, one containing your chocolate, on a grill over a cool spot on the fire. This is to toast the graham crackers slightly and to melt the chocolate into silky torrents you would find in Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory.
Poise your marshmallow onto a stick, one that actually used to possess leaves. This is important for the atmosphere and overall enjoyment of the s’more process.
Dangle the marshmallow over the fire-not in it. The key is to brulee the outside. But do it slow enough to pick up the flavors of smoke and to render the inside perfectly gooey.
Place one graham cracker in your hand and place the marshmallow onto the chocolate. Use the graham cracker to apply gentle pressure to the marshmallow to release it from the stick. Too much pressure at this point will make all your chocolate escape into the flames below.
Devour quickly as a way that makes you crave more.
Repeat as necessary until your inner child is singing with a delightful sugar high.
