Muscovado Sugar

Stiles/Akin

Sergeant Major
Joined
Apr 1, 2016
Location
Atlanta, Georgia
http://www.thekitchn.com/ingredient-spotlight-dark-brow-115399

sugar.png


I was sharing this article I found on muscovado sugar. Due to the high cost of sugar imported from Brazil in Africa, America turned to the production of sugar and increased slavery to accomplish this. I am not sure what the number of slaves on sugar plantations were compared to cotton. This sugar today though may prove to be more healthy than the refined sugars we eat. I found the topic interesting. So much high fructose corn syrup in foods today and the prevalence of diabetes was not nearly as great as it is today.
The older ways of growing sugar cane and sugar beets like mangel wurtzel could have greater health benefits.
 
http://www.thekitchn.com/ingredient-spotlight-dark-brow-115399


I was sharing this article I found on muscovado sugar. Due to the high cost of sugar imported from Brazil in Africa, America turned to the production of sugar and increased slavery to accomplish this. I am not sure what the number of slaves on sugar plantations were compared to cotton. This sugar today though may prove to be more healthy than the refined sugars we eat. I found the topic interesting. So much high fructose corn syrup in foods today and the prevalence of diabetes was not nearly as great as it is today.
The older ways of growing sugar cane and sugar beets like mangel wurtzel could have greater health benefits.
I never heard of sugar by this name before.sugar has been a major crop in Florida before the citrus industry developed.the town of Micanopy was founded by the family of Sen.David Yulee's father acquired about 250,000 acres in what is now Alachua county.there crop was sugar cane but came to failure during the second Seminole war.David Yulee moved the operation to the west coast of Florida near Hommossa Springs where there is a historic site of the remains of his sugar mill.
Down in South Florida today near Lake Ochochobee there is a major sugar crop where smoke blacken the sky when they burn the fields.
 
I buy sugar from Florida for my tea. I love the taste. Very slight molasses flavor and bigger crystals.

My grandfather-in-law (from Holland) used to make wine regularly and drink it for health (in moderation of course) up till the late 1970s when he got too old to continue on. One fermenting process was with mangel wurtzel. It made wine but will not be joining the ranks of wine that is good for your health. Terrible tasting stuff and he had throw it all out.
 
I buy sugar from Florida for my tea. I love the taste. Very slight molasses flavor and bigger crystals.

My grandfather-in-law (from Holland) used to make wine regularly and drink it for health (in moderation of course) up till the late 1970s when he got too old to continue on. One fermenting process was with mangel wurtzel. It made wine but will not be joining the ranks of wine that is good for your health. Terrible tasting stuff and he had throw it all out.
The companies are called Big Sugar locally but you may have seen what they make under the name "Dixie Crystal".they are not just in Florida but Louisiana also.
 
Sugar cane growing and sugar production began in Texas in the 1820's, while still part of Mexico. Pre-Civil War production peak was in the early 1850's, concentrated in the region southwest of Houston. The town of Sugar Land, Tx is 20 miles southwest of down town Houston. The Buffalo Bayou, Brazos & Colorado Railroad was built through this area and commonly called the Sugar RR. Post-war production continued in the same area for another 60 years, mostly using convict labor.
 
Last edited:
My package says "Florida Crystals" and then says grown in the USA. So it could come from different southern states.
 
I really like the Dixie Crystal's web page. Florida Crystals - not so much! The first thing to pop up is the ad for "looking for Asian women" blocking the whole page Get rid of that, then another ad for a car shows up. Grrrrr. Hate stuff like that.

I'll see if Dixie Crystal's is even for sale up here. I want to make the pumpkin cream cheese roll.
 
I really like the Dixie Crystal's web page. Florida Crystals - not so much! The first thing to pop up is the ad for "looking for Asian women" blocking the whole page Get rid of that, then another ad for a car shows up. Grrrrr. Hate stuff like that.

I'll see if Dixie Crystal's is even for sale up here. I want to make the pumpkin cream cheese roll.
One of my favorite climbing routes at Stone Mountain, NC is a route called Dixie Crystals which I always assumed got its name due to the large quartz crystals - never knew it was the brand name of a sugar company.
 
I found this thread while searching for posts on sugar during the Civil War. I heard a radio interview today with a man named Michael Moss, who is the author of the recently published "Hooked: Food, Free Will, and How the Food Giants Exploit Our Addictions." ( https://www.mossbooks.us/ ) In the interview he talked a lot about sugar and, seeing some of the delicious recipes for cakes and sweets here, it got me wondering whether our ancestors used a different type of sugar than the white, refined stuff we often get today. Maybe less addictive or damaging to the body?? I'm sure they must have used LESS sugar, or at least not had so much food that has already had sugar added to it.

I have done some searching here. Does anyone know of other threads that discuss sugar in the context of daily life during the war? How was it different (if in fact it was?) I know the topic of growing sugar, as it influenced slavery, is also discussed here.
 
I"ll bet that @donna knows if there were other threads.

Similar to muscovado is demerara sugar which, when I lived in Scotland was used for coffee (white granulated was used for tea). It comes from the Dutch (later British) colony of Demerara in Guyana. There were many plantations there for which demerara sugar was a mainstay--probably true of the other "raw" sugars as well. In 1823 there was a major slave uprising in Guyana that was put down with brutal force. I don't know whether it was the brutality of the reaction or the uprising itself but the result was a hastening of the end of slavery in the British colonies. There's a good description here: https://guyaneseonline.net/2020/07/31/guyana-history-the-demerara-slave-uprising-in-august-1823/

Demerara sugar is sweeter than white granulated and is much closer to brown sugar in texture. Although I've seen recipes that call for demarara, I've only used it for sprinkling on deserts such as cheesecake and (especially) strawberries tossed in liquor or wine.
 
Turbinado is partially refined sugar. It retains some of the original molasses from the sugarcane. It has a subtle caramel flavor.

It can cost up to 3x the price of white sugar.

It is usually in packets in coffeehouses.
 
Back
Top