[Sca-cooks] date sugar

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Apr 2, 2010, at 1:53 AM, Stefan li Rous wrote:

> I made the (probably wrong) statement on the Lochac list that period sugar was cane sugar, meaning not beet sugar. This is the thread that resulted:
> <<< You forget date sugar for us more easterly types.
>> 
>> You mean the Easterly types who use sukkar, derived from cane?
>> 
>> Date sugar is a modern name for finely chopped and partially dried dates.
>> It's not sugar, nor used as such in period.
>> 
>> Giles
> 
> Actually I meant jaggery/ jaggeree/ gura.  I know I can easily be wrong, but
> I thought that the use of the sap of the palm to produce this (not the
> chopped dates) was period.
> 
> Hrolf >>>
> 
> I seem to remember some discussion here about date sugar, but I don't remember the details nor have much in the Florilegium, other than two files that list it as an ingredient.
> 
> So what exactly is "date sugar" and was it used in period? And if so, how widely was it used?

Date sugar is made from dried, ground date pulp, otherwise unprocessed. It's by no means pure sugar; less so than, say, molasses or even jaggery. I'm not sure if there's a period precedent for its use.

I'm not sure if jaggery comes from date palms or some other kind of palm, but I believe it is made more along lines similar to cane sugar, the boiling of sap, etc.

Adamantius








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