[Sca-cooks] sugar substitutes, may be off topic

[Terry Decker]

The sugar cane we use originates in Northern India and was found there by
Alexander's troops around 325 BCE.  They may have introduced it into the
Euphrates Valley or it may have been introduced their earlier.  Cane was not
introduced into Europe until the Islamic expansion.  AFAIK, refining did not
arrive in Europe until then.  There is some argument as to whether cane
originated in Polynesia and moved to Asia or vice versa.

The sugar beet is a 19th Century hybrid of the Silesian white beet.
Margraaf described the chemical process for extracting sugar from beets and
carrots in 1747.  The first beet sugar extraction mill was started by Achard
in 1802 and the sugar beet was developed to improve the extraction.

Bear


-----Original Message-----


Today's sugar that we buy in bags already refined and ground comes from two
major sources, cane and beets.  Sugar Cane is native to Africa, IIRC.  Sugar
beets are native to Europe, I believe.  Sugar was refined on the European
continent before Roman times.  By the Middle Ages, if you could afford it,
you could get even highly refined, white sugar.  There were estates so large
and well staffed that one servant's specialty was grinding spices, including
sugar, so if you could afford it, you had finely ground highly refined white
sugar.  Otherwise, you ground your own (or your cook did.)  And why settle
for a simple syrup, when honey was available?
Mordonna