Beyond S'Mores

Graham crackers, those innocent-seeming ingredient for pie crusts, s’mores and dunking, originated as a method to pave a person’s path to heaven. Graham crackers were invented in the 1830s by Presbyterian minister Sylvester Graham, of Connecticut.

Minister Graham believed there was a direct connection between a person’s diet and their potential for moral purity. The graham cracker was created as part of his crusade for spiritual and dietary reform and were bland and unsweetened to promote a simple, vegetarian diet. Graham’s flour used every of the wheat grain, including the bran, germ and endosperm. Not to mix metaphors, but the original graham flour was whole wheat flour on steroids, containing the maximum number of vitamins and fiber found in wheat.

Graham traveled throughout the United States as a preacher for the temperance movement, advocating for the complete abstinence from drinking alcohol. Temperance supporters, including doctors and ministers, believed that stimulating things, like alcohol, would corrupt humans and cause harm. Hence, the blandness of the graham cracker.

Graham became popular throughout many parts of the country. “Grahamism” followers ate only plant-based foods, as found in the Garden of Eden, and limited seasoning and spices, prioritizing nutrition over taste or enjoyment.

To help to make a vegetarian diet as accessible to as many people as possible, graham flour was used to make crackers. Graham crackers compact, easy to make, and had a long shelf life. Grahamism continued to increase in popularity, with Graham boarding-houses established to promote the lifestyle. In the 1840s, Oberlin College, in Ohio, Graham, although the practice was abandoned due to student objections.

Graham flour is ground more coarsely than conventional whole-wheat flour and is a source of dietary fiber, B vitamins, and essential minerals. However, the healthiness of graham flour depends on added ingredients, such as sugar or white flour. About a hundred years ago graham flour was very popular type of flour, with published recipes for graham bread, graham muffins, graham pudding, and other graham foods. Today, locating true graham flour can take some doing, as it can go rancid very quickly, due to the natural fat found in the whole grain. Using the whole wheat grain may enhance nutrient value, but it also increases the speed of spoilage.

Over the years, graham crackers have evolved. The National Biscuit Company, known today as Nabisco, home of the Oreo cookie, animal crackers and Ritz crackers, began mass-producing them in 1898, creating the popular, sweet snack known today, despite the original intent of its creator. Bakers began experimenting with recipes, adding spices such as cinnamon, nutmeg or ginger and sweeteners such as molasses or brown sugar. This transforms Graham’s cracker into a well-liked snack, gaining popularity not for their supposed moral virtues, but for their wonderful taste and versatility.

Graham cracker’s versatility goes beyond snacking, as a staple in the creation of pie crusts and other baked goods. The sweetness and sturdiness of graham cracker crumbs provide a solid foundation for cheesecakes, cream pies and frozen confections.

But the most popular application of graham crackers requires a flame. In the early 20th century, the graham cracker became the star ingredient in s’mores. With easily transportable ingredients, marshmallows, chocolate squares and graham crackers, campfire cooks. The marshmallow and chocolate flavor s’more combination actually dates back to the Victorian era, where it could be found in celebratory cakes of the day.

Before any type of s’more creation could be widely, enjoyed, the marshmallow needed to be widely produced. Ancient Egyptians were the first to create the treat we know as the marshmallow as early as 2000 BC. Marshmallows were reserved for gods and royalty.

Marshmallow was made from the mallow plant, which, you guessed it, grows in marshy areas. It is thought that the Egyptians extracted sap from the mallow plant and mixed it with nuts and honey. Over the years, mallow root has had medicinal applications, such as cough suppressing and immune system building.

 In the mid-1800s, French candy store owners took mallow root, mixed it with eggs white and sugar, and allowed it to stiffen in candy molds. This process could take over two days, so candy makers started looking for a more streamlined process. The “starch mogul” system, created in the late 1800s, allowed candy makers to create marshmallow molds made of modified cornstarch and gelatin, which replaced the mallow root.

This means that, after the late 1800s, marshmallows no longer contained mallow root; the ingredients changed, but the name remained, in 1948, Alex Doumak created and patented the marshmallow extrusion process, which involves forcing marshmallow ingredients through tubes; the resulting candy is cut into pieces and packaged. According to the American Confectioners’ Association, more than 90 million pounds of marshmallows, totaling about $140 million are sold annually in the US.

So, by the 1920s, graham crackers, marshmallows and chocolate (thank you, Mr. Hershey) were widely available. It is thought that, in 1927, the s’more was introduced by Girl Scout Leader Loretta Crew. Her recipe was first published among other simple campfire eats in a Girl Scout Guidebook under its original name “Some More,” as the recipe was written to feed 16 scouts.

The original recipe called for 8 sticks (for roasting), 16 graham crackers, 8 bars of plain chocolate broken in two, and 16 marshmallows. It instructs scouts to “toast two marshmallows over the coals to a crisp gooey state and then put them inside a graham cracker and chocolate bar sandwich.” It goes on to say that “the heat of the marshmallow between the halves of chocolate bar will melt the chocolate a bit. Though it tastes like “Some More,” one is really enough.”

Graham crackers are not necessarily just a sweet treat. Savory s’mores can be created with brie or chevre in place of the marshmallow, and sun-dried tomatoes or fresh basil rather than the chocolate. Graham cracker crumbs can be used to replace some of the bread crumbs for breading meat, fish or vegetables and can add a layer of flavor when stirred into a vegetable or bean chili.

Today’s graham crackers may not be the health-inducing product that was originally intended, but they can bring enjoyment to meals and snacks.

Please email the author at foodprof2@gmail.com with ideas for future columns or for health or nutrition questions.