Sugar is a very crucial ingredient for our tasty desserts which gives them the sweet taste. It is one of the preferred sensations even in an infant’s flavor of sweetness when presented easily while the other basic taste. Sweet is the most popular treat. Sweet is a synonym of sugar, which is derived from sugarcane or sugar beets and contains 16 calories per teaspoon. It is a natural ingredient that has always been part of the human diet. Carbohydrates comprising sugars and starches are broken down in the body into glucose.
It is an important source of energy with glucose being the most important for the body. Our brain requires around 130 grams of glucose per day to keep functioning. Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Table sugar, granulated sugar, or regular sugar, refers to sucrose, a disaccharide composed of glucose and fructose. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, including glucose, fructose, and galactose.
History Of Sugar
It is widely believed that cane sugar was first used by man in Polynesia from where it spread to India. In 510 BC the Emporer Darius of Persia invaded India where he found “the reed which gives honey without bees”. The derivation of the word “sugar” is thought to be from Sanskrit word sarkara, meaning “ground or candied sugar,” originally “grit, gravel”.
It was only discovered by western Europeans as a result of the Crusades in the 11th century AD and the first sugar was recorded in England in 1069. The subsequent centuries saw a major expansion of western European trade with the East, including the importation of sugar. At this time, it was regarded as very much a luxury. In the 15th century AD, European sugar was refined in Venice, confirmation that even then when quantities were small, it was difficult to transport sugar as a food-grade product.
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In India, different species likely originated in different locations where originally people chewed sugarcane raw to extract its sweetness. Indians discovered how to crystallize sugar during the Gupta dynasty, around 350 AD although literary evidence from Indian treatises such as Arthashastra in the 4th-3rd century BC indicates that refined sugar was already being produced in India.
There are many varieties of sugar available but we can classify sugars by the size of their grains, and/or by the degree of refining they have been subjected to. There are some varieties of sugar that have been used regularly in our day to day life.
Types Of Sugar
Granulated Sugar
This is the most common type of sugar. is a highly refined, multi-purpose sugar. It’s also sometimes called refined, table, or white sugar. When people talk about sugar, this is usually what they’re talking about. It is made from sugarcane and sugar beets. It’s also the most common type of sugar used in baking and cooking.
Caster Sugar
It is superfine granulated white sugar. Because the crystals are so fine, they dissolve much quicker than standard granulated white sugar, which makes it ideal for making meringues, syrups, and cocktails.
Brown Sugar
It is a less-refined version of ordinary cane sugar, which means it contains a certain amount of molasses as well as caramel, giving it a damp consistency. It is available in dark and light forms. While dark brown sugar does have a bit more molasses than its lighter counterpart, both these sugars can be used interchangeably in recipes to add a subtle caramel or toffee flavor.
Confectioner’s Sugar
Also referred to as powdered sugar and 10x sugar, this is a type of white sugar that has been ground into a fine powder. To prevent clumping, a small amount of cornstarch is typically blended in. It is easily dissolved in liquid. It is used extensively in candy making and also for making frostings and icings.
Sanding Sugar
This coarse sugar has large granules that don’t readily dissolve when exposed to heat or moisture. Sanding sugar isn’t typically mixed into any recipe, rather it’s used for decoration. It has large crystals, which are fairly resistant to heat and add extra texture and crunch to cookies and other baked goods. You can find sanding sugar in a rainbow of colors.
