[Sca-cooks] date sugar

[Stefan li Rous]

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?

Thanks,
    Stefan
--------
THLord Stefan li Rous    Barony of Bryn Gwlad    Kingdom of Ansteorra
    Mark S. Harris           Austin, Texas          StefanliRous at austin.rr.com
**** See Stefan's Florilegium files at:  http://www.florilegium.org ****