Advertisement
I am currently reading "Sweetness and Power",and it is absolutely incredible.For those of you who don't know this wonderful book,it is an anthropological and historical look at the causes and effects of the sugar trade.
It has had another effect, one that the author unlikely intended.
Id like to taste sugar like my ancestors tasted it,(complete with the taste of oppression and privelage...well, no, not really...ideally) especially when recreating traditional recipes, where sugar was used more like we'd expect spices to be used,so the subtilties of flavor would be important.
I am interested in finding the closest modern equivalents to what sugar would be like prior to the modern industrial white sugar I am used to.The closer to unrefined the better.The book describes that there were always different degrees of refineing, as well as local variations as to the color and taste.These must have all been all kinds of yummy, and there must(?) be still something that comes close somewhere.
I am also specifically looking for ways of getting a hold of what Ayurvedic physicians are calling "Jaggery" This is touted as a health food in Ayurveda,as was the original sugar imported into the west(however, ANYTHING that was rare and expensive was sold as a wonder drug then) and I'm curious to find what this sort of sugar is experientially.Unfortunately the word Jaggery is now just the Hindu word for refined sugar,and I have no idea what"the original' looked/tasted like.
I have frequented my local Asian mart several times(which stocks mostly Indian foods,as well as Cambodian/Vietnamese food),and I have bought several kinds of sugar for experimenting with.Some, called 'gur' is light amber colored and comes in the shape of a large grapefruit sized cone(and unfortunately loaded in sulphites, it seems,or something else which tastes like that).There are also these dark amber colored bars of "hard candy"(at least thats what the non Chinese part of the label says)that you can break into sugar cube sized chunks with some effort, and these dark brown,commercial charcoal briquette sized nuggets whose label is in Cambodian(i think) which have a very interesting flavor. There is also a "panela' which comes from central america there as well,served in large flat dark brown disks.
I have no idea where to start as to determining which of these,If any, are closest to what the Hindus call medicinal Jaggery,and what were coming into Medieval ports.
Does anybody have any ideas?
It has had another effect, one that the author unlikely intended.
Id like to taste sugar like my ancestors tasted it,(complete with the taste of oppression and privelage...well, no, not really...ideally) especially when recreating traditional recipes, where sugar was used more like we'd expect spices to be used,so the subtilties of flavor would be important.
I am interested in finding the closest modern equivalents to what sugar would be like prior to the modern industrial white sugar I am used to.The closer to unrefined the better.The book describes that there were always different degrees of refineing, as well as local variations as to the color and taste.These must have all been all kinds of yummy, and there must(?) be still something that comes close somewhere.
I am also specifically looking for ways of getting a hold of what Ayurvedic physicians are calling "Jaggery" This is touted as a health food in Ayurveda,as was the original sugar imported into the west(however, ANYTHING that was rare and expensive was sold as a wonder drug then) and I'm curious to find what this sort of sugar is experientially.Unfortunately the word Jaggery is now just the Hindu word for refined sugar,and I have no idea what"the original' looked/tasted like.
I have frequented my local Asian mart several times(which stocks mostly Indian foods,as well as Cambodian/Vietnamese food),and I have bought several kinds of sugar for experimenting with.Some, called 'gur' is light amber colored and comes in the shape of a large grapefruit sized cone(and unfortunately loaded in sulphites, it seems,or something else which tastes like that).There are also these dark amber colored bars of "hard candy"(at least thats what the non Chinese part of the label says)that you can break into sugar cube sized chunks with some effort, and these dark brown,commercial charcoal briquette sized nuggets whose label is in Cambodian(i think) which have a very interesting flavor. There is also a "panela' which comes from central america there as well,served in large flat dark brown disks.
I have no idea where to start as to determining which of these,If any, are closest to what the Hindus call medicinal Jaggery,and what were coming into Medieval ports.
Does anybody have any ideas?
posted by:
|
Advertisement
Advertisement
-
Re: JAGGERY
Fri, January 11, 2008 - 6:32 AMTry to find Mexican sugar? It's sold in cones. Colonial Williamsburg sells it repackaged in period paper wrappings. The mexican markets here also sell fresh sugar cane.... it's a very different taste than refined. -
-
Re: JAGGERY
Wed, January 23, 2008 - 8:20 PMjaggery is used a lot in south india, prob because it's really cheap there. it's unrefined palm sugar and tastes delicious like brown sugar. i bet an indian grocery store would have it.
-
-
Re: JAGGERY
Sat, January 26, 2008 - 6:05 PMHere's some wiki info:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaggery
and a few sites:
www.sugarindia.com/product.htm
store.indianfoodsco.com/grocer...esc.cfm
-
Re: JAGGERY
Sun, January 27, 2008 - 1:49 PMyour asian market should have unrefined palm sugar in stock, generally it appears in small, beige colored flattish discs. Natural food markets stock lots of varieties of unrefined sugar also, and that panela you found is an unrefined sugar as well.
Good luck with those recipes- I've often found premodern recipes to be hard to follow since there are different expectations in the cook depending on the period in question. The author will assume that you have knowledge and experience that you may not have, and will neglect to provide specific information in the assumption that "anyone" would know these things. They might give you vague instructions about heat or timing, or mention an ingredient under an antiquated name.
Have fun.
