Brown sugar

Recently appeared on our shelves, brown sugar in the West has long won the recognition of fans of a healthy lifestyle. For its manufacture, tropical plants such as palm and reed are used. Our distant ancestors added to the food is unrefined sugar.

A sweet product from the beets we used to get started relatively recently - in 1802, then in Germany factories began to operate.

At first, he was ranked as a drug and sold only in pharmacies. In ancient times, brown sugar was a sign of wealth and even a luxury item. For his sake, bloody battles were fought. In Russia, cane sugar was first introduced at the end of the twelfth century.

When processing the product in question, molasses remains on it, a thin film covering the sugar crystals. That's why it's different in brown color.

Reed syrup is rich in useful minerals and substances. That is why brown sugar, the use of which is high enough, is more expensive than its "white colleague". This product contains more calcium than yogurt, milk and some types of cheeses.

Nutritionists in the West have long recommended replacing beet sugar with reed. They explain this by the fact that in the latter there are fewer calories. But this is not so. In a hundred grammes of refined sugar contains 409 kilocalories, and in a similar amount of brown - all 413. Therefore, the replacement of sugar beet sugar will not bring the desired reduction in caloric intake. Nevertheless, in America and Europe all "healthy" food includes only brown sugar or honey (natural).

The natural reed product is also rich in iron, potassium, copper and chromium, as it is produced as a result of rough processing (only five industrial operations are carried out, and in the production of white beet - twenty). Also, connoisseurs of coffee and tea believe that brown sugar, unlike refined sugar, does not reduce the taste of the drink. This delicacy is perfect for baking, it makes the taste of gingerbread, pies and cookies spicy.

Choose brown sugar. What should I pay attention to?

Find it on the shelves of shops will not be difficult. But which kind is most useful? When choosing this product, it should be borne in mind that brown color is not always an indicator of its natural origin and unrefinedness.

Natural sugar (reed) brown has its own specific flavor, taste and color thanks to molasses. However, sometimes manufacturers replace it with dyes.

Types of natural products:

- Demerara. It is distinguished by a golden brown color. You should carefully read the information on the package, because it can be both natural unrefined and mixed with molasses white refined sugar.

- Muscovado. Can contain a varying amount of treacle. The more molasses in it, the darker it is. The crystals of this type of product are smaller in size than the demerara, they have a pronounced caramel smell and stickiness. Muscovado can even be black with a strong enough smell of molasses.

- Turbinado is a large dry crystals from golden to brown. This natural raw sugar is extracted by partial purification from molasses with water and steam.

- Black Barbados or soft molasses. This product is distinguished by a pronounced flavor, dark color, softness and moisture.

The main thing that should be oriented when buying natural cane sugar is the "unrefined" mark on the label. It is in this case that the delicacy will not only be pleasant to the taste, but also, to some extent, useful.