Sugar: A Global History by Andrew F. Smith
Pg 11 Most historians consider eastern India, abt 2,500 yrs ago, the point of origin for the sugar industry
Pg 18 Sugar cane prefers tropical climates. A freeze, or even just a spell of cool weather, could limit the growth of the cane. A more serious problem was the lack of cheap, plentiful fuel to stoke the boilers that converted cane juice into refined sugar. The demand for firewood caused deforestation throughout the sugar-growing areas of the mediterranean
Pg 21 On his second voyage to the Caribbean in 1493, Columbus stopped in the Canary Islands and picked up seed cane, which he introduced to the Caribbean island of Hispanola (Haiti/DR)
Pg 22 While the Caribbean had the perfect climate for growing cane and there was plenty of fuel and water, there was a shortage of manpower (Beginning the Slave Trade)
Pg 27 In 1697, Spain and France signed the Treaty of Ryswyck, dividing the island of Hispanola into French and Spanish territories. Over the next 100 yrs the French colony of Saint-Domingue (Haiti) became the most productive sugar island in the Caribbean
Pg 40 From the 1840s to the 1870s, Cuba supplied 25% to 40% of the worlds total sugar
Pg 52 Few native Hawaiians wanted to work on sugar plantations, so the growers looked abroad for cheap labor and began to import contract workers, initially Chinese men. By 1860, Hawaii had 29 sugar plantations, and most of the territorys sugar exports went to the US.
Pg 67 The Arabs made a drink called sharah by stirring a sugar syrup infused with rose petals, orange flowers, willow flowers or violets into cold water. When ice was added to the mixture, it evolved into the frozen dessert that Europeans called Sherbet
Pg 79 In the 1630’s the first coffee houses were opened in Europe, they served their coffee black, with sugar as an optional addition, but it soon became an inseparable companion to coffee
Pg 84 When sufficient sugar is added to certain foods, whether infused by cooking or applied as a coating, it functions as a preservative by inhibiting the activity of microorganisms
Pg 88 During the Middle Ages sugar was also used as a post-prandial digestive in sugared and spiced wine served with fruit at the end of the meal, after the dishes had been removed. This course came to be called dessert (from the French “desservir”, meaning to clear the table)
Pg 108 Sugars hide in processed foods under a variety of names, including sucrose, glucose, dextrose, maltose, lactose, galactose, malt syrup, maltodextrin, corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, molasses and corn sweetner, to name a few
Pg 110 As more women entered the workforce during the 20th century, cereals were advertised as a means of easing mothers workload. Children could prepare their own breakfasts without help and they loved sugary cereal
Pg 112 A full cookie jar was long seen as emblematic of a well-run American home, a loving mother and a happy family
Pg 115 80% of doughnuts are sold before noon in North America
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