CANE SUGAR

Cane sugar is sucrose which has been extracted from sugarcane, a tropical plant which produces naturally high concentrations of this sweet substance. Humans have been utilizing cane sugar in cooking for hundreds of years, and cane sugar was at one point a major element in global trade. Today, most markets carry cane sugar in a variety of forms, from minimally processed raw sugar to sugar cubes; cane sugar typically tends to be a more expensive form of sucrose, but many people prefer it because they believe it has a superior flavor. Sugarcane is actually a type of grass. The grass forms fibrous tall jointed stalks which are rich in sugar; as early as 3,000 BCE, people in India were crushing the stalks to get juice and then evaporating the juice to create sugar crystals. Throughout Southeast Asia and the Middle East, cane sugar was used for centuries before it was introduced to Europe, where honey had been the only available sweetener. Shortly before 1000 CE, sugarcane was under cultivation in Spain, and the Spanish brought sugarcane with them to their Caribbean colonies, where it became a linchpin in the so-called “Triangular Trade” of slaves, sugar, and rum.