Sugar confusion

[bunnyjadwiga]

Why is it that so many people are so convinced that beet sugar (invented in the Napoleonic era) is *more* ancient and specifically medieval than cane sugar (the original form of sugar)? Why do people think that cane sugar was not available in the middle ages and renaissance?

What can we do to combat this?

Comments

[auntiero.livejournal.com]

Why? Because we grew up with the myth that cane sugar was prohibitively expensive so it must have been hard to come by in period or available only to the very wealthy.

What can we do to combat this? Well... food is not my area, but I would think classes on cane sugar, it's uses and availability in period, and the mythology of cane sugar would be the way to get the word out. Maybe an article or 12 in a CA or a TI?

[pedropadrao.livejournal.com]

Hang on! The definition of expensive is going to vary. Certainly, it'd be easy to come by in Tehran or Lisbon circa 1470, but it'd be a whole different story in Stockholm circa 600.

[auntiero.livejournal.com]

Exactly! This is why I think education in various forms would be the best way to change people's thinking about sugar.