# question for Aussies: do you guys makes s'mores and what do you call them?



## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Hi, a google search didn't help me with this specific quest. I'm wondering if Aussies eat smores (graham crackers with chocolate and melted marshmallow.) Do you have your own version of this and if so, what is it called?  Or do, you just make it knowing its an American thing? Or have you never heard of them? If you're in front of a fire and and American says, "Hey, let's make smores!" do most people know what they're talking about?

(I need the info for a scene in a book I'm writing.) Thanks for any insight.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

This is a question I never had until now. I bet they have a weird name for them like gollywadgers or something.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

I couldn't resist going to Google to look for this and I found this Australian blog:

http://www.gocampingaustraliablog.com/2012/06/smores-australian-style.html

Apparently, they call them S'mores just like we do. However, to them it is an American treat  American ethnic food if you will...LOL. I found it interesting that graham crackers are not easy to find. There were a lot of recommendations as to what they could use to sub for the graham crackers...and this link include a "recipe" for S'mores. It is fun to read the reader replies as well....


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

They'd probably just toast a slice of bread over the fire, then spread some Vegemite on it.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

NogDog said:


> They'd probably just toast a slice of bread over the fire, then spread some Vegemite on it.


This gave me a big chuckle. Even my Aussie cousin says that Vegemite tastes a bit like car oil.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Thanks. Any Aussies know if it's something people down under have often like we do in the states?  It's a staple for camping and backyard bbq's around here. In the summer, stores always have displays set up to buy all your ingredients in one spot.


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## Ceinwen (Feb 25, 2014)

We don't have our own version, and I'd say most people wouldn't even know what they are unless they had American friends, travelled there or come across the concept in American books/media. I don't know many people who have even tried them - we don't have graham crackers and according to my American mate our marshmallows are the wrong size and shape for it.


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## jcthatsme (Mar 19, 2014)

Only some people would know what they are from American TV shows/movies. And almost no one would have actually had them. We don't have Graham crackers -- I don't even know what sort of crackers those are to know what an equivalent alternative would be.

And like was said above, our marshmallows must be different because with the type we have most commonly, I've never understood how it would even work to make smore. And though you can find it sometimes, marshmallow fluff -- the stuff that comes in a jar -- is rare and most wouldn't have ever had that either.

We take marshmallows as common camping staple, but only to put on the end of a stick and toast them over the fire /coals.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Very helpful.  Thanks!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

jcthatsme said:


> ...
> We take marshmallows as common camping staple, but only to put on the end of a stick and toast them over the fire /coals.


Yep, that's part of the process: once they get a bit browned, you squish them between the crackers and chocolate, making a (gooey) little sandwich.

Now, that being said, I've lived my entire life in the US (midwest and east coast), and I may have eaten a grand total of 2 s'mores, tops -- but I'm not a big marshmallow fan. (If I were going to put something on a stick to cook over a camp fire, it would probably some sort of hot dog or sausage.  )


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow, only twice in your life?  We even make them during the winter in the microwave. (then again, we have two kids)


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Now, that being said, I've lived my entire life in the US (midwest and east coast), and I may have eaten a grand total of 2 s'mores, tops


That's two more than I have eaten. 

Mike


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

jmiked said:


> That's two more than I have eaten.
> 
> Mike


  You're depraved, deprived! 

This picture might give those who haven't seen them an idea of what s'mores lovers are talking about. Russell Stover has packaged them and added caramel to this one. You'll get your sugar high for a week with just one, but they are _really_ good!


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## jcthatsme (Mar 19, 2014)

NogDog said:


> Yep, that's part of the process: once they get a bit browned, you squish them between the crackers and chocolate, making a (gooey) little sandwich.


Right, well that makes sense. And they sound good. Funny how they're just not something that's caught on here. A bit like Halloween, although that's trying to get bigger so maybe s'mores will have their day one day.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

WAIT.....................Aussies don't do Halloween?


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

i had a s'mores molten lava cake for dessert tonight.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I lived in the US for some 19 years now and I never seen a smore. I wasn't really sure what they were until this thread.  . I don't camp though and I am not around kids so maybe that is it? I think I only had marshmallows once on a hot chocolate at someones house once. I am not sure what those things are.  .


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## jcthatsme (Mar 19, 2014)

Lisa Scott said:


> WAIT.....................Aussies don't do Halloween?


Nope. We get a little bit of halloween related stuff in shops, but hardly anything. Nobody does trick or treating. Some people might have costume parties, but it's not a big thing, and generally a novelty 'American' thing. Mostly goes by unnoticed by the majority of people -- not because most of them would have anything against it, it just has never become a tradition here.

I've seen it getting a little bigger, but I suspect that's only driven by supermarkets wanting to find another holiday they can exploit between Easter and Christmas to sell more themed stock. Not that I'm objecting to an excuse to eat lots of candy, but it doesn't have much meaning that way. I wouldn't be surprised if they start trying to get Australian's to celebrate Thanksgiving soon.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Wow.  I need to go lie down. 19 years in the US and you haven't even SEEN a s'more, (your grocery stores don't have displays selling all the goodies for it?  Ours even sells marshmallow roasting sticks for poor folks who can't find a stick. Maybe it's bigger in the northeast than other places?) 

And no tricking or treating down under.  I never thought of Halloween as an American thing. Do any other countries do it? It's fun. My daughter's already planning her costume. We get hundreds of trick or treaters each year, people on our street deck their houses out. Crazy town.

How was that molten lava s'mores cake? drooling...... Last year DQ had an awesome s'mores blizzard. Not sure if they had it this year.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Lisa Scott said:


> Wow. I need to go lie down. 19 years in the US and you haven't even SEEN a s'more, (your grocery stores don't have displays selling all the goodies for it? Ours even sells marshmallow roasting sticks for poor folks who can't find a stick. Maybe it's bigger in the northeast than other places?)


Never seen any displays. I am in Texas before that I was in Oklahoma. I have no clue if its regional. Not being a native to the US, I don't feel qualified. .

Apparently Halloween has made its way to Germany since I left though. Baffled the heck out of me when my mom told me that. Had never heard of that until I moved to the US. Not sure why they need it there in Bavaria though. Plenty of scary traditions and practices already without Halloween.


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

With a lot of camping under my belt, I don't remember a camping trip without S'Mores. We are heading out this week for camping with several families. There will be some young children on board, but campfires are prohibited in eastern WA, so I doubt there will be S'Mores. While I do not enjoy the taste  or messiness of S'Mores, I consider them a staple on camping trips. When my oldest son was 3 he had his first S'More around the campfire. He definitely did not like the goo on his hands and immediately requested to go to bed.


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## jcthatsme (Mar 19, 2014)

Lisa Scott said:


> And no tricking or treating down under. I never thought of Halloween as an American thing. Do any other countries do it? It's fun. My daughter's already planning her costume. We get hundreds of trick or treaters each year, people on our street deck their houses out. Crazy town.


When I studied abroad in England for a semester halloween was made a bigger deal of there than in Aus. I think Halloween in some form originated from there, a mix of Celtic pagan festivals and Christian traditions. But I still don't think there's anywhere near the same level of trick or treating or anything. (Correct me if I'm wrong, English people. I was only there for a semester.)

A bigger deal was made of things like guy Fawkes day, setting off fireworks and such.

I think America has definitely made Halloween into it's own unique thing there.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Of course, Halloween is "All Hallows Eve" which is the eve of All Saints Day, a Roman Catholic holiday (don't know if the Church of England celebrates it?). But it coincided with autumnal pagan holidays (which it nominally was supposed to replace, I suppose?), and I guess the secular/pagan traditions have won out here in the US (where the Roman Catholics are a minority, still).

My mother always told me that when she was a girl, it was "trick and treat", not "trick or treat." You had to sing a song, perform a little skit, or otherwise do something to _earn_ your treats, as opposed to theoretically threatening some sort of negative trick if you don't get a treat. At least that seems more wholesome than sending kids out to collect bags of empty calories for no reason.


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

I have probably only eaten two or three S'mores in my life. I preferred all three ingredients separately. I like toasting the marshmallow, pulling the toasted part off and eating it, toasting the remainder, and seeing how many times I could repeat the process. Now that I need to stay gluten free, I will never eat another classic S'more. I wonder how one would be made with gluten free ginger cookies?


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## loonlover (Jul 4, 2009)

I'm with Anna. Give me the ingredients separately and I'm happy. I have never liked crunchy and gooey together.


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## Andra (Nov 19, 2008)

I like s'mores, but only when camping - and you need half a Hershey bar, and the marshmallow has to be REALLY toasted   I like them gooey and chocolatey.

I am more likely to eat a few toasted marshmallows instead of several s'mores.  And I think it's because I first had them with milk chocolate, they are one of the few things that I think taste funny with dark chocolate...  I also don't think they taste right if you do them in the microwave.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2014)

I know what s'mores are from American TV but I've never had them in Australia. They sound yummy but we just don't eat them here. Here's a question for you - when Americans have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, what is the jelly? In Australia jelly is what you call jello. So when you have jelly in a sandwich what is it? Spreadable jello? I'm confused!


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

Kitten said:


> I know what s'mores are from American TV but I've never had them in Australia. They sound yummy but we just don't eat them here. Here's a question for you - when Americans have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, what is the jelly? In Australia jelly is what you call jello. So when you have jelly in a sandwich what is it? Spreadable jello? I'm confused!


Kitten, the easiest explanation is jelly = jam here, so peanut butter and a fruit spread. We tend to differentiate between "jelly" as made just from the fruit juice and pectin to thicken versus "jam" is the actual fruit cooked down and pectin added to make it thicker. Jello is usually eaten as a snack or dessert by itself.

Do you have a different word for jam that is made just from fruit juice that you would spread on bread?

 This is jelly.

 This is a jam.

 This is jello.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2014)

crebel said:


> Kitten, the easiest explanation is jelly = jam here, so peanut butter and a fruit spread. We tend to differentiate between "jelly" as made just from the fruit juice and pectin to thicken versus "jam" is the actual fruit cooked down and pectin added to make it thicker. Jello is usually eaten as a snack or dessert by itself.
> 
> Do you have a different word for jam that is made just from fruit juice that you would spread on bread?
> 
> ...


I used to think jelly was jam when I was a kid so I tried a peanut butter and jam sandwich and it was awful. Of course I used strawberry jam, so I'm a moron haha  We don't have a different type of jam in Australia like your jelly, and we don't tend to have grape flavoured jam so pb and j sandwiches isn't something we do here.

But thanks for explaining it to me - I was always curious!


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

The "traditional" PBJ uses grape jelly, and that's normally what I would expect if someone offered me one without specifying a different flavor of jelly was used. (I particularly like it with black raspberry jelly, and I usually prefer jelly over jam with either.) Then the question is, do you like your PBJ to also have butter (or margarine) on it, too -- making it a PBBJ sandwich? (I do.)


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am betting that some of the above people are correct. Somehow the Aussie version would incorporate Vegemite. How that THAT stuff be readily available, but not graham crackers?


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## jcthatsme (Mar 19, 2014)

crebel said:


> Do you have a different word for jam that is made just from fruit juice that you would spread on bread?


We don't really have a jelly equivalent. We only have jam (made with the actual fruit).

But people do have peanut butter and jam together here. It's not a huge 'thing', though, and I'm sure it varies by personal taste.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2014)

balaspa said:


> I am betting that some of the above people are correct. Somehow the Aussie version would incorporate Vegemite. How that THAT stuff be readily available, but not graham crackers?


Vegemite isn't so bad. A thin spread on toast on top of margarine or butter can be very nice, although it is an acquired taste  I wouldn't eat it without butter or margarine, though - you need something to make the taste less harsh. I understand people hating it on first taste but when you get used to it it's nice.


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## Lisa Scott (Apr 4, 2011)

Without PBJ sandwiches, I would have perished in elementary school. Had it for lunch every single day for 6 years. My kids too, that's all they'll eat for lunch.  We like strawberry jam with it. My kids love to have it grilled, too. (in the frying pan, not the grill.)


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

My kids loved PB&H.. Peanut butter and Honey. not one of the 3 kids ever liked jelly, just honey.

Also if you want to make some graham crackers yourself for S'Mores (or whatever):
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Graham-Crackers/


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## Annalog (Dec 28, 2008)

BTackitt said:


> My kids loved PB&H.. Peanut butter and Honey. not one of the 3 kids ever liked jelly, just honey.
> 
> Also if you want to make some graham crackers yourself for S'Mores (or whatever):
> http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Graham-Crackers/


Glad you mentioned peanut butter and honey! That was my favorite followed by peanut butter and blackberry jam.

I do not like either butter or margarine on my PB&J sandwiches (or on any of my sandwiches). I would rather have soggy bread. I did try Vegemite on buttered toast when I was on a business trip to Australia a couple decades ago; it was OK. I liked it better than the fish roe paste from a tube spread on toast that I tried in Sweden. I think that both are acquired tastes, just like pickled balogna in Michigan. (I needed to acquire that taste while dating DH since his relatives would bring that when they visited Tucson.)


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

jcthatsme said:


> When I studied abroad in England for a semester halloween was made a bigger deal of there than in Aus. I think Halloween in some form originated from there, a mix of Celtic pagan festivals and Christian traditions. But I still don't think there's anywhere near the same level of trick or treating or anything. (Correct me if I'm wrong, English people. I was only there for a semester.)
> 
> A bigger deal was made of things like guy Fawkes day, setting off fireworks and such.
> 
> I think America has definitely made Halloween into it's own unique thing there.


I'm a bit late to this discussion. Halloween is celebrated in Scotland and I think always has been but trick-or-treating was an American import. It is more traditionally celebrated with bonfires & lanterns. I've had s'mores but they're really too sweet for my taste. Since graham crackers are really an American thing, I'm not sure what you'd replace those with.


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## crebel (Jan 15, 2009)

MrAzzatagoestotheinternet said:


> Saw this thread evolved from s'mores to jams and jellies. This summer, I started making small batch strawberry jam. Best jam I ever had.
> 
> Here's an article on small batch jam making without pectin.
> 
> ...


Come join us in this thread for all things jam & jelly making! http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,186777.0.html


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