SC - Sugar Stuff! Was: Cane Honey??
Elise Fleming
alysk at ix.netcom.com
Sun Nov 2 06:10:43 PST 1997
I wrote:
>Could the reference to "cane honey" be the incomplete curing of a
>sugar loaf? Sugar loaves sometimes were incompletely cured, leaving a
>liquid residue in the middle.
And Stefan replied:
>Perhaps I just need to go look up how sugar was/is made, but what is
>this curing of the sugar loaf. Isn't this just the evaporation of the
>water left in the sugar? If so, wouldn't this liquid then be the same
>as solution of sugar and water? If so, I would expect the medieval
>cook to make his own from sugar and water rather than hunt around for
>an incompletely cured sugar loaf, even if he had several.
Here is a lot of information, including a reference to molasses,
"powdered sugar", and liquid sugar.
I just re-found some photocopies of a book on the history of sugar
(title isn't on the pages, silly me!). It describes, however, the
making of sugar. One part says (p. 59, "Methods of Refining") "The
refuse of the cane was used to produce a poor syrup, and Ibn el Awam
says that the surplus juices were sometimes given to horses."
Here's another paragraph (p. 61): "Sugar was sometimes purchased as a
liquid, 'mel de calamele' or 'mel sucre' as it was called; sometimes in
treated form, perfumed with rosewater or with essence of violets --
'sucre roset' in France, 'zuchero rosato' or 'violato' in Italy."
Another section describes the refining process and another to the
different types of sugar produced. "Many of these are described by
Pegalotti, a travelling agent of a Florentine banking form, who wrote
his observations in the fourteenth century. The finest quality of loaf
sugar produced at the time was one reserved almost entirely for the use
of the Sultan of Egypt, so that very little found its way into the
ordinary market. 'Mucchera' sugar, as it was called, was
double-refined, and was manufactured in small pyramid-shaped loaves
weighing about a pound. It was similar in appearance to the slighly
less refined 'Bambillonia' or 'Cairene' sugar which was more easily
obtainable. Pegalotti speaks next of the 'Caffetino' sugar, of which
there were two grades; one resembling the 'Bambillonia', the other made
in larger cones, rounded at the top, and often imperfectly cured in the
centre. 'Muscovado' or 'Musciatta' sugar, made in large loaves of up
to seven pounds, and likewise rounded at the top, was popular among
dealers, as it was easily broken into saleable quantities.
'Damaschino', sometimes flat and sometimes pointed, is described as the
least valuable of the loaf sugars, probably on account of the smallness
of its loaves and the wastage that would result from its crumbling."
" 'Sugar Crystal' was also to be obtained, the finest coming from
Cyprus and others of varying sized graines from Rhodes, Syria an
dAlexandria. The crystal, or, as it was sometimes called, THE POWDERED
SUGAR (emphasis is Alys's), was made from disintegrated loaves, and was
often used to fill the spaces in the chests into which the loaves were
packed for transport. Candy and molasses were also on the market, and
syrups were exported from Alexandria in glass jars."
There apparantly are many references to sugar and its purchase in
documents of the time. We tend to look just in cookery books, but the
records of journeys, the household accounts, etc., give a wider view.
Whichever book on sugar this is, it is probably titled "The History of
Sugar". I did a research paper to prove or disprove the existence of
"powdered sugar" in the Middle Ages/Renaissance. As you can see, I
found it, but not in the form I expected. Modern powered sugar is much
more finely ground than one can do with mortar and pestle, but a finely
ground sugar can be obtained with a little muscle power.
Alys Katharine
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