[Sca-cooks] Sugar WAS Spices in England

Chawkswrth at aol.com Chawkswrth at aol.com
Mon Jan 1 18:49:01 PST 2007


In a message dated 01/01/2007 12:40:35 PM Central Standard Time, 
gordonse at one.net writes:


> Has anyone on the list ever made sugar from sugar cane or sugar beets?  How
> did it go?
> 
> Sharon
> 

It would not be too hard to do. I grew up in South Louisiana, not too far 
from the Godcheaux Plantations. I well remember traveling along Highway 90, and 
seeing cane fields, interspersed with swamps....
You could tell the seasons, just by watching the fields. Spring, the ground 
was a fuzzy green with new growth; summer, the cane fields were tall and green; 
Fall, was the time of cutting and burning. They would burn over the cut cane, 
before they would pick it up from the fields and take it into the factories.
I guess that started the juice of the cane running. Just cut cane is sweet, 
but the 'burned' was even sweeter.
One would have to crush the cane, to extract the juice. Then it would have to 
be boiled down. Brown sugar is sugar with some of the molasses still attached 
to the crystals. 
I would suppose that the cane was crushed by the same method that is used 
today for Sorghum - a slow moving circular stone on stone method, usually driven 
by oxen or mules. 
Just a few thoughts...

Helen
who went through the 'how they make sugar' show several times, in school. It 
got me out of math class <G>


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