SC - Bread tip-softer crust

[Arabella de Montacute]

> A little over a week ago, Bear said:
> 
> I can't give you a value, but sugar was a widely grown and used product in
> the Islamic lands.  It originates in India.  It was transplanted to the
> Euphrates before the rise of Islam and it is probably there that it was
> first refined.  These areas became part of al-Islam before 700 CE.
> 
> --------
> Why would someone go to the trouble to transplating it a great distance
> unless it was already being refined? Or is there evidence of people
> squeezing the juice onto/into food directly from the plant? I seem to
> remember chewing on raw sugar cane years and years ago and it being
> sweet, though. I don't even know if it is still available that way. I
> don't remember seeing the raw cane in years.
> 
> Stefan li Rous
> stefan at texas.net
> 
Nearchus found sugar cane being chewed in India, but does not make any
comments on sugar refining.  Shortly after this, it is believed that sugar
cane was transplanted to the Euphrates.

While evidence of refined sugar has been dated to the 5th Century in the
Middle East, sugar was under cultivation in India, China, the Euphrates
Valley and in Polynesia.  There is no conclusive evidence as to where and
when sugar refining began and how the technology spread.

While I am willing to accept the information I have gleaned as basically
correct, the sources are somewhat dated.  

Bear
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