[Sca-cooks] Sugar beets

[David Friedman]

Cane sugar. Beet sugar only came into use during the Napoleonic wars.

>So what was other then honey  their sugar base? I was always told it 
>was of beets. Now I am confused, another layer of misinformation and 
>conclusion.
>Cealian Of Moray
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Terry Decker" 
><t.d.decker at worldnet.att.net>
>To: "Cooks within the SCA" <sca-cooks at ansteorra.org>
>Sent: Saturday, March 19, 2005 6:44 PM
>Subject: Re: [Sca-cooks] Sugar beets
>
>>Andreas Sigsmund Marggraf.  He first extracted sugar from beets in 
>>1747 (when Boswell was 7 or 8 years old).
>>
>>The method used was high proof alcohol extraction (brandy in the 
>>original experiments) which would probably limit any earlier 
>>extraction to some time after 1400.  The extraction process is more 
>>complicated than that of cane sugar and doesn't produce the yield 
>>of cane sugar.  Marggraf hoped that his process could be used by 
>>farmers to produce sugar for their own use, but that idea went 
>>nowhere, suggesting that the process may have been too complicated, 
>>cumbersome or costly to join the whiskey still in the shed out back.
>>
>>While I've seen the claims for beet sugar been known before 
>>Marggraf, they are always made as a throw in without supporting 
>>evidence or citations to primary sources.  The references smack of 
>>citing opinion of authority as authoritative fact.
>>
>>Bear
>>
>>>I've been reading Boswell's memoirs, and came across a mention of 
>>>his meeting with a German chemist. The footnote identified the 
>>>chemist as the first person to extract sugar from beets. The 
>>>meeting is in the 1760's, so that suggests that beet sugar was 
>>>unknown prior to the 18th century, which I thought interesting.
>>>
>>>Beet sugar is generally associated with Napoleon's response to 
>>>blockade by Britain, but I had seen it suggested that it was known 
>>>long before, just uncommon.
>>>--
>>>David/Cariadoc
>>
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-- 
David Friedman
www.daviddfriedman.com