Source: In France, myself and a few other American students trying to explain s'mores to a group of our international classmates.
Relation: This past week, we had a discussion about food and what kinds we were inclined to eat based on our cultural background. I began to think of times I found a food strange or even times when a food familiar to me was found strange by others.
Description: Ah s'mores, what an odd creation of our American culture. But who doesn't love 'em? Crunchy graham crackers, gooey marshmallows, and delicious chocolate smashed together into a sandwich. I participated in a study abroad program this summer when I lived in Montpellier, France for a month. I went to language classes 5 days a week and in my class were students from all around the world, each with a different culture. For an activity one night, the professors asked the students to bring a dish that represented their country for a potluck at the school. One of my friends from HSU had the great idea to bring s'mores. The first issue we had was finding the ingredients for s'mores. Graham crackers don't really exist over in France, so some buttery cracker/cookies were substituted. Hershey's chocolate could not be found either, but chocolate is chocolate so no problem. Marshmallows were easy to find. Once we got to the school, it was a matter of finding sticks to roast the marshmallows. We found some on the ground near a tree and thought they would be suitable. Luckily, there was at least a barbeque for us to roast the marshmallows over. Many of the other students did find it strange though that we would pick something up off the ground and use it as a cooking utensil, but understandably so; why aren't we phased by this anyway? Needless to say, they were also shocked by why we would put these three foods together in a seemingly overfattening, super unhealthy snack. One of the professors even teased us saying, "So this is part of your regime? This is how you stay so svelte? I hope you go running after this." Although many were reluctant to try a s'more, they certainly did enjoy them, but in moderation of course.
Commentary/Analysis: I think it is funny how we never stop to think about how bad s'mores are for us; all we know is that they are delicious and part of a fun tradition. What harm can a few s'mores be anyway? We don't eat them everyday. When I start to think about how the tradition of s'more even came about in our culture, I immediately think back to days of sitting around a campfire with my family. It seems to me that s'mores are inextricably tied to the camping experience and that may represent a strong outdoorsy tradition among Americans. We were taught in schools that people like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were great adventurers who defined the spirit of the founding of our country. Of course, we conveniently leave out how they stole that land from the Native Americans, in a bloody and shameful manner. But, I think a lot of countries have a great romanticized myth about their proud creation and that myth is something built into the culture. Back to food though. I find it very interesting how something so simple as a s'more can tell us so much more about our culture and history.
