History, Sugar Coated

As many of you know, there was once a time when sugar was the most expensive and difficult to obtain of white powders consumed recreationally. As I sit at a cafe sipping my 3 euro espresso after yet another lunch of sweet beets, I can't help but think of what a wonderful little thing this sugar is, and how often I take it for granted. Between sugar trips, I nervously and frantically ponder how it came to be that I'm able to consume sugar in France in first place. As an 18th century pickpocket however, I do lament current sugar prices, as it is much more elementary to purloin sugar for specie than silverware and bone china. I jest.

Like with so many old commodities, sugar tells a pretty interesting story. By tracing the history of sugar, you trace a 'recent' history of the East and West, through conquest, trade, and colonization.

It's thought that sugarcane originated in Polynesia and spread to India. After India was invaded in the 6th century by Persia, sugar eventually made its way to the Middle East through subsequent invasions of Persia by Arab armies. The Arabs in turn carried it with them as they conquered North Africa and Spain.

Flash forward a couple years to the 11th century, when sugar became known to Western Europe by means of the Crusades. It's likely that sugar became a hit because crusading is known to build up quite an appetite. The uninvited guests were probably happy to partake in the consumption of a sweet treat or two.

Sugar continued to expand throughout Europe in the following centuries, but still remained a very expensive luxury item. Honey (which was still expensive), or more likely, fruit, was otherwise used for sweetening food. Eventually sugarcane made its way to the New World with Columbus, who got it by means of a fling with the ruler of the Canary Islands, where he made a quick stop before hopping the old Atlantic.

As for France, they were forced to rely on British imports of sugar because of the Kingdom's control of the Caribbean. Sugar was very heavily taxed, and so was the rum that resulted from it. In 1747, sugar beet was first used as a source of sugar, but cane sugar still predominated until the Napoleonic wars, when Britain blocked sugar from the rest of Europe. Napoleon, not wanting any of it anyway, single-handedly started the beet sugar industry, which still provides as much as 30% of the world's sugar.

I realize that I've now made two separate drug references in two consecutive posts. Don't worry Mom, everything is fine in Paris.

GG

That dish is SO last season

Lately, I've been watching a lot of The Supersizers Go... on The Food Network. If you're not familiar with it, it's based on Morgan Spurlock's movie, Supersize Me. In each of the show's handful of episodes, the hosts spend a week gorging in the style of the wealthy of several significant periods of British history - from the Elizabethans, to the Victorians, to World War era rationers, and even to the high-powered, cutthroat sharks of 1980's Square Mile.

While also being hilarious, the show highlights the fact that food, like art, architecture, fashion, design, music, political movements, charitable causes, and so on and so forth, is extremely subject to trend - what's popular at the time. Dishes go in and out of style as quick as leg warmers, Jhery curls, grunge, post modern art, environmentalism, and vegetarianism.

The Material Girl

What makes The Supersizers Go... super interesting to me, is that food, unlike fashion for example, is essential to life (though some would disagree). It's easy to overlook that food and food customs initially spread in the same way as language and religion, and today they go out like last year's colors. Even though today our trends are short-lived by comparison to those of 500 years ago - they may no longer be impacted by war and rule, and they may not be as extreme as to give us dishes like pressed duck, cockentrice, pickled fish tarts, boiled sheep heads, or eel pies; they exist just the same.

The Duck Press

So as I sit in my bad jeans, old shoes, and faded polo shirt, I can't help but think about some of the culinary trends that have passed us by more recently. Check out my list here!

Today, it seems that the average person is well educated about ingredients and cooking techniques. Maybe it's thanks to the rise of the celebrity chef, or the pervasiveness of food TV shows, or wildly popular restaurants that end up being turned over faster than an egg on a tin roof in the summertime. 

Though I'm not in any position to say for sure, to me it looks like we're moving toward a more 'European' attitude toward food in North America. Portion sizes seem to be coming into control, and there seems to be a growing appreciation for the basics - good, fresh ingredients, seasonal eating, and simple cooking. Amen.

GG

The Upper Crust

So the other day my mom asked me to help her find the 'ultimate sandwich bread' - one that is hearty, sumptuous, and non generic. This got me thinking about 2 things. 1: Seeing as bread is probably the epitome of a 'global food', does such a thing exist? and 2: Why haven't I done a bread post yet?

Nearly every culture has some sort of bread for dipping, sopping, wrapping, topping, or filling. There's naan, pita, tortilla, injera, shokupan, and baguette, just to name a few. For me, I don't know if I can pin down a perfect one, even for a sandwich. Warm French loaf is inspiring; but turkey calls for whole wheat, pulled pork and ciabatta are like Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, and the sweet, spongy texture of challah is also unbeatable with something savory.

I thought that instead of making a bunch of suggestions, I'd follow up on another global food post with a little bit of history.

It's no surprise that bread is ancient. Bread in archaeology is a big topic, and some use it as a benchmark to gauge a society's development. When wheat and other grains were first stockpiled, it's likely that they were consumed directly. Bread 'paste' was probably first developed, by crushing the grains and mixing them with water. When heated, this paste could have been kept for days. Like with cheese, it's thought that bread making may have first happened by accident - through the introduction of airborne yeast to the dough before heating, or through the naturally occurring yeasts on grains. The first sourdough was made by adding a piece of previously made dough for leavening, again akin to cheese making techniques.

Bread has become so essential to life that it even has religious importance. So, appreciate that slice of bread you're having in front of the TV!

As for the ultimate sandwich bread, any ideas?

GG

Fromage Francais

There's no arguing that cheese is one of the quintessentially French foods. I guarantee that any picnic in the Luxembourg Gardens will feature at least one variety of cheese, whether it's chevre, emmental, bleu, or brie. Cheese is also one of those foods that you don't generally want to think too much about while eating. Well, the other day I decided to think about it while eating it. Then I decided to read about it. Now I will write about it.

It turns out that cheese is one of the oldest foods known to man. Thought to have begun as early as 8000 BCE, cheese making predates recorded history. It's assumed that cheese was discovered by accident, through the practice of storing food in animal skins and organs. With heat and acid, the milk would have been converted to curd and whey. Eventually the curds were salted and pressed for preservation, and cheese was born. There is evidence of cheese in ancient Egyptian tombs, and it even appears in Homer's Odyssey.

In Europe, the cheese would have been exposed to colder climates, and therefore would have required less salt for preservation. This provided a nice breeding ground for bacteria, which plays a starring role in the flavoring of aged cheeses. In cheeses that use little or no rennet, the acidification of the milk can be done by adding bacteria which convert the sugar in the milk to lactic acid. The complex and variable process of cheese making has given us hundreds of known cheeses today. Needless to say, over the centuries, cheese making has become an art.

Oh, and since I don't have to write papers anymore, thanks Wiki.

GG