Course:HIST104/Sugar Cubes
Sugar Cubes
The history of sugar cubes dates back to the 1800's. Sugar cubes are processed from white sugar or refined sugar. The Vancouver sugar refinery has a long history and Rogers sugar cubes are one of the examples. Sugar is derived from sugarcane and the plantation of sugarcane played an important role in the history of sugar. Sugar is a crystallized sucrose and it is produced by sugarcanes and sugar beets. Sugar cane originated in Southeast Asia, India and New Guinea and the first sugar plantations originated in the African colonies of Madeira and Sao Tome. Sugar plantation is closely related to the colonization and worldwide trade market of sugar. Sugar cubes have also become an icon in popular culture today.
Technological developments transformed the refining industry of sugar. The old open-topped boiling pans were replaced by low air pressure vacuum pans and this technology was developed in 1813. [1] By 1837, the use of large spin dryers was recognized as a more efficient way of separating the liquid molasses from the sugar than the old cone drainage method. Finished cones were being sliced into regular sized tablets by 1840, thus originating the predecessor of the modern sugar cubes.
The history of the Mexican sugar industry began with the introduction of vacuum-pan technology between 1880 and 1910. Panela is an unrefined form of semi-crystalline sugar and panela accounted for an estimated twenty-five percent of Mexican sugar production overall. Panela still continues to be produced and consumed in Mexico today. Moreover, panela is considered to be a very important sugar source in Panama, Colombia, India and other nations. The production of panela has been an important source of employment and capital in the rural societies. Sugar cubes are derived from processed sugar. They are produced by heating and cooling juice mechanically expressed from the sugar cane plant. They contain sucrose crystals, which are chemically stable and relatively resistant to deterioration when exposed to heat and light. Since the early twentieth century, sugar mills have employed centrifuges and distillation towers to remove the less valuable by-products, leaving the pure white crystalline sugar. Panela appears as hard black, brown, or yellowish rectangular cubes, cones and cylinders. Panela production involves a three-step process: first, stalks of sugar cane are crushed in a mill in order to extract the juice containing the sugar in suspension. Secondly, the juice is heated in open pans and clarified by the addition of powered lime and other substances, which bind with acids and other impurities that would impede or prevent crystallization. Once enough water has been driven off and the sugar solution reaches a supersaturated state, it has to be determined by an experienced eye or empirical tests. Then the sugar must be cooled down rapidly and poured into moulds where it hardens into a solidified form.
The commercially important sources of sugar are sugarcane and sugar-beet. In the case of sugarcane, the juice is extracted by crushing the cane. The process of crystallizing the sugar-beet juice is extracted by shredding the beet, placing it in warm water, and forming a sugar solution by diffusion. Both raw sugars contain about ninety-seven percent of sucrose. Refined sugar is obtained by dissolving washed raw sugar, decolorizing the resultant solution and then recrystallizing it to get ninety-nine percent of sucrose.
Sugar production in Czechoslovakia favors the production of sugar beets. A lot of the countries in the world rely on the sugar industry as their main exportation. Traditionally, Britain was a principal sugar importer and refiner and a beet sugar producer since World War I, and now it is an exporter of refined sugar.
The beginning of sugar is generally believed to have been centered in the islands of the South Pacific. The spreading of sugar cane cultivation is accredited to the Arabs. The sugar cane grown as an economic crop is dated back to the year 1000 A.D. The plantation has spread from the Middle East to Mediterranean and to Europe, and slavery in Europe had a great influence on sugar cane plantations.
Rogers Sugar
Rogers sugar cubes found on your tabletop in Western Canada are from the Vancouver refining facility. [2] Rogers merged with Lantic sugar Ltd. in 2008 to form Lantic Inc. Lantic refines cane sugar in the Vancouver refinery and markets this product under the Rogers™ name. As the only sugar processor in Western Canada, Lantic enjoys almost an exclusive market. The Vancouver sugar refinery has a long history [3]. Built in 1891 by Benjamin Tingley Rogers, it was the first large Vancouver industry not based on either the West Coast fishery or forestry. Ben Rogers started as a young man in the sugar refining industry. In 1881 Ben’s first job was in E.J. Gay’s Sugar Refinery in New Orleans, working for his father Sam Rogers who was the plant superintendent. Ben’s father died in 1883 as a result of an industrial accident at the plant. As a result, Ben gave up his dream of pursuing a university education. Ben then traveled to New York City to work in a refinery. On a business trip to Montreal, Ben learned that the Canadian Pacific Rail Company (CPR) had just completed the terminus in Vancouver. Ben set about planning his own refinery; he approached William Van Horne (president) and R.B. Angus (director) of the CPR, with the plan to refine 40,000 lbs. of sugar per day. Ben was just twenty-four years old with no investment capital of his own, but pledges from his employer and others for $50,000. His business plan was realized in March, 1890, when he became the president of BC Sugar. Ben further negotiated with the city of Vancouver for property valued at $30,000, free water and fifteen years of tax exemption. The Vancouver refinery opened for business in January, 1891, refining sugar from Asia to market to Canada.
As well as sugar cubes, the Vancouver facility also produces granulated, icing, yellow and brown sugars, liquid sugars and specialty sugars and syrups [4]. Sugar cubes are processed from white sugar or fine granulated sugar. The Vancouver processing facility refines cane sugar. This cane sugar now originates from three different locations: Australia, South America and Central America. Lantic uses these three countries because cane grows seasonally, and having different sources ensures a continuous supply. To ensure maximum yield, the sugar derived from cane needs to be partially refined at sugar mills operated near the harvest fields. To certify that the cane is milled as quickly as possible, the Australia mill owners have contributed to railways and have invested in rail cars. At these mills, the freshly harvested cane is processed with a cane shredder and the shredded cane is crushed through rollers, which extracts the sugar water. The remaining cane pulp termed “begasse” is used as fuel to generate power for the mill. The cane sugar juice is then boiled to evaporate off most of the water. The juice turns to syrup from boiling; this syrup is run through centrifugals, which separate molasses from the sugar crystals. The sugar crystals are referred to as raw sugar, and this raw sugar is transported by container ships to Vancouver to begin further refining to table sugar.
The History of Sugar
Sugar has played an important role in society for centuries. The importance of sugar in our world today is very evident – not only is it used for basic food consumption and development of products such as syrups, but it is also a very strong trade commodity [5].
The history of sugar can be traced back as long as eight-thousand years due to its sweet extraction from the sugarcane, which produces about seventy-percent of the world’s sugar. The remaining percentage, for the most part, is produced by sugar beets. Sugar is a crystallized sucrose that can be found from any type of green plant, which helps create all the different types of products created from sugar, such as honey and candy. Sugar was first produced in either India or Polynesia; however, this fact is unknown and still up for debate. India, along with Brazil, China, and Thailand are known as the world’s largest producers of sugar cane. Therefore, they have priority in the large trade market of sugar. The sugar trade market has been a presence in the world for thousands of years, and not only does sugar bring wealth to some countries, but brings problems for others. For example, in the United States sugar has brought great wealth for the country, but on the other hand, it has turned the United States into one of the most overweight cultures in the world. This is not only evident in the United States, but many other countries as well. As many as one-hundred-and-twenty countries produce some form of sugar.
When discussing the history of sugar, trade and production is very important. The process of extracting the sugar into consumer products is not very simple; therefore, it is possible through history, slavery could be attached to the sugar trade.
Sugar Plantations
A plantation is defined in the dictionary as a generally large farm estate, located in a tropical or semitropical country in which cotton, tobacco, coffee, sugar cane, or the like are cultivated usually by resident laborers [6]. Sugar cane originated in Southeast Asia, India and New Guinea, but it would not be until around 350 A.D that the Indian people under the Gupta dynasty would learn methods of how to crystallize sugar into the product that we use everyday [7]. Modern day sugar plantations started to become more commonplace and valuable when the British and French produced this new commodity largely based out of their Caribbean colonies, where sugar cane is most easily grown [8].
The first sugar plantations originated in the African colonies of Madeira and Sao Tome by the Portuguese. The sugar plantation industry was a very labor-intensive industry, thus, the Portuguese would choose to utilize the work of African slaves in order to make the production of sugar cane even more profitable. Ultimately, the early plantations developed in these two areas failed eventually due to problems with distribution in Madeira and the humid atmosphere in Sao Tome. [9] Starting from the middle of the seventeenth century, sugar cane had become a very valuable commodity as it was obtained from Brazil from Dutch. With the introduction of sugar into European society, the British would use this new commodity to make cakes as well as using it as a sweetener for their tea. Since sugar cane is best grown in tropical regions, the British would choose to use colonies in the Caribbean to start sugar plantations. These areas, which had been growing mainly cotton and tobacco, would shift its production into sugar because the prior exports had been declining in profitability largely due to competition from American production. The main source of labor used in these sugar plantations developed by the colonial powers were again made up of African slaves.
In today’s society, it would be considered highly unethical for sugar plantations to use slave labor in order to conduct their production of sugar. Rather than using manual labor to process crystallized sugar, the process is much more mechanized to reduce the use of extensive labor that was previously essential.
Sugar Cubes in Popular Culture
Song by Yo La Tengo
Yo La Tengo is an American garage band from Hoboken, New Jersey who have been together for about twenty years [10]. The band consists of guitarist Ira Kaplan, drummer Georgia Hubley, who is married to Kaplan, and bassist James McNew who joined the band in the early 90’s. The trio is one of indie rock’s most beloved bands and are known for their experimental sound. “Sugarcube” is a song off of their album I Can Hear the Heart Beating As One (1997). The synopsis of the video is that the trio is forced by recording executives to enroll in a course that teaches them how to be proper rock stars. The video features Bob Odenkirk and David Cross from HBO’s Mr. Show as the two rock professors. [1]
The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes were an alternative rock band from Iceland. [11] Their debut album, Life’s Too Good (1988), received international acclaim and put Iceland on the map in the world of music. The band was led by the vocals of Björk Guðmundsdóttir, who is now a well-known solo artist, and also featured vocals of Einar Örn Benediktsson, drummer Sigtryggur Baldursson, bassist Bragi Ólafsson, guitarists Fridrik Erlingsson and Þór Eldon, and keyboard player Magga Örnólfsdóttir.
Sugar Cubes and Absinthe
Absinthe is an emerald green liqueur that has been banned in several countries and is associated with excess. [12] It can be consumed through a process that involves sugar cubes. The traditional process was to take a sugar cube on a slotted spoon and trickle approximately 30 ml of the liqueur and five volumes of cold water over the sugar cube into a glass. Absinthe was founded in Switzerland and became extremely popular in 19th century France. Many creative artists drank absinthe including Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Picasso, and Vincent Van Gogh.
Sugar Cubes in Movies
Sugar cubes make an appearance in the movie Moonstruck (1987) starring Cher and Nicolas Cage. Cher’s character Loretta makes an engagement toast, and when she pours two glasses of wine, her father adds a sugar cube in each glass. [13] The act of putting a sugar cube in champagne is a family tradition for their characters.
The Big Cube - The Big Cube (1969) is a cult classic film starring Lana Turner and Dan O’Herlihy and revolves around the plot of Adriana Roman, a retiring famous actress who is about to marry a wealthy man named Charles Winthrop. [14] This situation displeases Winthrop’s daughter Lisa and she becomes entangled in a world of drugs while hanging out at a nightclub. “The Big Cube” is slang for a sugar cube dipped in LSD and Lisa’s character experiences the bizarre effects of LSD-laced sugar cubes when they are added to a drink.
References
1. Feltoe, Richard. "The History of a Sugar House." Toronto: Natural History Incorporated, 1991.
2. “Rogers Sugar.” Lantic. http://www.lantic.ca.
3. “The History of Metropolitan Vancouver.” BC Sugar. http://www.vancouverhistory.ca/archives_bcSugar.htm.
4. “Industry Information.” The Milling Process. http://www.sugaraustralia.com.au/Industry.aspx?content=MillingBusiness.
5. Cherubin, Dan. “Sugar: How Sweet It Is." Journal of Agricultural Food and Information 9, 3 (2008): 196-203.
6. plantation. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/plantation.
7. Worcester, Donald E. "Brazil: from Colony to World Power." New York: Charles Scribners & Sons, 1973.
8. “World History at KMLA.” The History of Cane Sugar." http://www.zum.de/whkmla/economy/plants/sugarcane.html.
9. Galloway, J.H. The Mediterranean Sugar Industry. Cambridge: University of Cambridge Press, 1977.
10. Bozza, Anthony. “Checking In: Yo La Tengo.” Rolling Stone 770 (1997): 1-4.
11. Fricke, David. “Iceland’s Sugarcubes.” Rolling Stone 615 (1991): 20.
12. Strang, John, Arnold Wilfred N., and Peters, Timothy. “Absinthe: What’s your Poison?” British Medical Journal 319 (1999): 1590-1591.
13. “Movie Trivia.” Moonstruck. http://www.funtrivia.com/en/Movies/Moonstruck-8230.html.
14. “Movie.” The Big Cube. http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/84977/The-Big-Cube/overview.