Naturata Organic Sugars

Sugar and salt look confusingly similar. But if you mix them up when cooking, the result is rather unpleasant for the palate. At least in our modern times. The people of the Middle Ages, on the other hand, would probably even have liked a switch of sugar for salt. For them, sugar was a spice for refining savoury dishes. There are recipes that have been handed down in which rabbit or minced meat were seasoned with sugar in addition to saffron and nutmeg. However, such dishes were only served at the tables of kings and princes. Exotic spices were just as unaffordable for the common people as the "white gold". Even those who could afford sugar still had to find someone who sold it. It is said, for example, that the English King Henry III once wanted to buy three pounds of sugar in the 13th century. However, the monarch was not sure whether such a quantity was even available in his kingdom.

Because it had to be imported from distant countries, sugar was a luxury product in Europe for centuries. Sugar cane, the basis of sugar, grows only in tropical and subtropical climates. About 1,400 years ago, the Persians developed a method of extracting sugar that is still used in some places today. In this process, sugar cane juice is heated to a high temperature and poured as a hot liquid mass into a cone-shaped vessel made of clay. A hole in the top of the mould allows the liquid to drain off while the sugar crystallizes. The mould is then turned over. The result is a rock-hard cone of sugar, the "sugar loaf".

Crushing a sugar loaf required caution. Many cooks and housewives got bloody fingers when handling sugar hammers and sugar scrapers. The wife of the sugar manufacturer Jacob Christop Rad also injured herself several times. He therefore looked for a way to make sugar easier to portion. He grated a sugar loaf into small pieces, moistened the sugar and pressed it into a rectangular tin mold. After a short drying time, he was able to remove a finished sugar cube. He was so satisfied with the result that he developed the mold further and had it patented.

Lump sugar has been around since the 1840s. However, the fact that sugar became a product of daily use is due more to its price than its form. Instead of imported sugar cane, domestic sugar beet was now used. Due to the inexpensive beet and industrial production facilities, sugar became more and more affordable from the 19th century onwards. In Europe, the classic sugar loaf is actually only still used in the preparation of a "Feuerzangenbowle" (fire tongs punch). Today, sugar is almost exclusively sold loose or in cube form.

However, not all sugar is the same. Cane sugar is obtained from sugar cane and beet sugar from sugar beets. Depending on the degree to which they have been refined, the result is whole cane sugar, raw cane sugar or cane sugar. Refining is a process in which the raw juice is heated until sugar crystals form. Only after hours of repeating the dissolving and crystallizing process do white sugar crystals form. In the case of brown whole cane sugar, the sugar cane juice is only thickened, dried and ground, and the molasses remains completely intact. In the brownish raw cane sugar, the sugar cane juice is refined once, part of the molasses is retained. Cane sugar has a white colour because it was refined until there was no molasses left. The golden coloured Demerara raw cane sugar is coarser grained than the sugar crystals of the sand coloured Sucanat and the beige coloured Syramena. For this reason, the Naturata Demerara raw cane sugar is also perfect for exotic cocktails, especially for the preparation of the popular "Caipirinha". The Sucanat whole cane sugar gives a special flavour to sweet dishes and cakes, as well as hot drinks. The very fine and light Naturata beet sugar is a real all-rounder. Try it for pastries or for sweetening all kinds of food and beverages. Icing sugar is produced by the particularly fine grinding of sugar crystals. Naturata Icing Sugar can be used to dust desserts and cookies, or to refine glazes and sponge cake bases. Syramena Sugar Sticks are ideal for on the go or for precise dosing. The cubes of Naturata Lump Sugar are of raw cane sugar with a break in the middle. Discover the multi-faceted flavours of high-quality organic sugar with Naturata.