My ire for those who search high and low for exact replicas of the homeland food products is irrationally great. Particularly when they are from the same place as me, and insist time after time after time that they must have: graham crackers! regular cheerios! or whatever! This time of year everyone is a-twitter with cranberry sauce and sweet potatoes, and come camping season, surely will come the s’mores request.
Wherefore I provide to you the following, the Chile s’mores hack.
You will need:
1 bar Karina milk chocolate, bought in the gringo foods section in Santa Isabel, Lider and other supermarkets, not with the rest of the chocolate, I don’t know why. Buy Hershey’s if you must, but the Hershey’s we get is formulated to withstand the heat of Brazil, where it is made, and it tastes even more like wax than usual.
1 bag marshmallows. I have never noticed a difference in marshmallow taste from one brand to the next. There, I have said it, I am not a marshmallow expert. Please unfollow if necessary.
1 packet “Vino” crackers. They are not graham crackers. They do not taste the same. But they are the right shape, and they are crunchy, and unless you want to import them yourself or make crackers, half of which will end up on the ground, because yo, s’mores break easily, just use the vino crackers. You can also use galletas Maria, which are a closer taste match but a) round b) harder to find and c) often have grasa bovina in them. I’ll stick to the mashed up cowsey and horsey bones in my marshmallows, that’s enough for me, thank you.
Here is what your assembled snackarrific “ingredient” pile will look like at 10:30 PM when you get home from the supermarket, and whereupon you realize you have no idea what language your brain functions in anymore, when you mishear “at 10 PM, the supermarket stops selling bebidas alcohólicas” as something about meatballs (albóndigas). This was through headphones, hearing’s not that bad yet, thank goodness.
From there you know what to do. Toast, smoosh, eat.
Also, if you notice vastly different lighting conditions, you are very observant. I have officially spoiled all my meals of the day and had a s’more for second breakfast. No regrets. Also, finally a food that doesn’t look jaundiced against my “screw my security deposit-colored” walls.
Marshmallows!!! We do not get them in Argentina. 🙂
But we do get a turron type thing that is softer, more like marshmallow fluff, and I think would make amazing s’mores.
That said, I hear you. Yes, we miss things from home sometimes, but I find the fun in creating new versions based on what I can find where I am instead of wishing I had what was there.
It’s also the impetus for my learning to make pizza, bagels, Asian-style dumplings and donuts.
So perhaps I now need to fashion s’mores. It may require making marshmallows, tho.
and you might be the only one to truly enjoy them, but they would still be awesome. They’re easy enough to make, eggwhites, sugar, gelatin. I’m so sure Charlie would love to help!
Hello Eileen! Have been following you for a while. I kind of have a reverse problem – my husband adores aji Chileno from la Vega in those big blue barrels – he puts it on practically everything. We’ll be back in the states soon – am I screwed? Even if I can find the right chilis I am only finding online recipes for pebre – and I want to learn how to make the pre-pebre liquid. It has vinegar in it, doesn’t it? Do you know anyone who knows how to make it from scratch?
I really love your blog. Thanks for the market reports!
Hi Carolyn, thanks for popping in! I have developed a soft spot for that ají, having lived here for many years, but the first several times I put it on food accidentally, thinking it might be ketchup, I did think to myself, “what vinegary hell is this?” So yes, there is lots of vinegar in it. I think you could probably approximate the flavor, if not the texture, I would try a pepper like maybe guajillo, or some other medium-sized dried pepper, not too hot, not smoky, boil water and soak it overnight, and then drain, take out the seeds and put it in a mini food processor with salt and vinegar, and see that happens. However, I have never tried this, so I’m really just guessing. There is a mail-order company that sells Chilean goods in the US, which is http://www.tuchileaqui.com/jbajochileno.html, that sells JB. Might not be exactly the same as what he’s used to, but a good occasional taste of “home.” Exciting to think about all the food changes. I hope you’re going somewhere that gets good produce, as that is what I miss most when I am not in Chile. And palta. 🙂
Thanks so much for your ideas. I guess I’ll get to experiment! I will miss the different kinds of palta, I had never had those little ones before, they are the perfect snack size. And my family have all been gorging on those delicious half-yellow cherries, knowing the same amount in the states costs a small fortune.
Thanks again, best of luck with the blog!
God I was looking for something like this about a month and a half ago, just about when this was posted, I ended up making a s’more dip with Hershey’s, Reese’s peanut butter cup (sold at Jumbo) and marshmellows, and then just used oreos. It went awful tho! & just now I decided to try again & searched up graham’s cracker & found this. Next time I’ll just go with those Vino crackers. I even tried importing them but it was just too expensive lol! I’m glad I found this blog for further hacks.
I’m glad you found me, too. Now I wonder if you were googling s’mores hack! Why did you think to put something with PB in it for smore’s, I wonder? I have never been a fan of peanut butter cups, I mean, I’ll eat them if that’s all that’s around, but I would never seek them out. And was wondering how the pb part would melt. Here’s to more experimenting in the kitchen, and hope your future attempts go better! A friend recommended the cookies that are shaped like vino but already have chocolate on them, Rigochoc? Seemed like the chocolate ratio would be off with double chocolate, but that’s just me.
I’ve been searching for graham crackers too but have yet to find any
that’s the point, Erin. You have to work around what you can’t find. It becomes close enough!
Has anyone seen root beer here? I would love to find it!
I have seen it periodically at Jumbo, but not that often, and I don’t go to Jumbo much these days. I haven’t been in months. You’ll have to dispatch a band of merry shoppers to keep you in the loop for if they see it!