Not All Sugar Is Created Equal 

or Caleb has writer's block on the article he needs to finish so he wrote this, instead.

by Caleb Reynolds

In our modern middle ages, we attempt to create dishes and treats from ancient cook books. We are often stymied by the lack of detailed steps of how to make a thing, and there certainly were no temperatures listed to help us with our modern ovens. We also have to figure out what is the closest thing available, today, to what our ancestors would have had. Is a modern chicken the same as one from the 14th century? Are our eggs the same size? What can I use from my local supermarket to substitute for garum? Even simple sugar can be far more complicated that one can imagine. [1]

We are so used to going to the aforesaid supermarket and buying a pound of 99.99% pure sucrose sugar; bleached whiter than white with each grain separate and scoopable. All for the low, low cost of $5. Or brown sugar by the bag. Even "raw" sugar by the box. As much as we want, anytime of the year. But, was this what was available to our medieval counterparts? 

Well... Yes and no. Modern, mass-produced sugar is well above and beyond the technological means of medieval Europe and North Africa. Sugar makers use massive machinery to turn raw sugar cane into a chemically pure product in numbers that would be un-imaginable to anyone living before 1900. Even brown sugar is different: it's pure sucrose blended with a precise ratio of molasses, then dried and packaged so that it is still scoopable. Compare that with Mexican piloncillo sugar packaged in hard blocks or cones that have to be grated or chopped up before it can be used. French muscovado is also a raw, "brown" sugar, but processed not in hard, compacted cones, but in a soft format that one can stick a spoon into without much effort. Both piloncillo and muscovado sugar are considered "exotic" by today's standard because it is barely processed. Our perception of sugar is that bright white crystals is the norm; anything else is weird. 

So, what was available to the Medieval chef? Period inventories and shopping lists mention sugar loaves as well as references to “sugre blanche”, “white sugar” or “candy sugar”. Which indicates that there was a difference between the varieties of sugar. Furthermore, many cookbooks use the word “sugar” in most recipes but calls for other varieties of sugar in some: “good white sugar” “lump white sugar”, “white sugar” “pounded white sugar”, “white manna of sugarcane” and “Sulaimani sugar”. [2]

Balducci Pegolotti, an early 14th century Floretine trader, listed various types of sugar in his handbook; “five kinds of loaf sugar, in order of quality: mucchera, cafetino, bambillonia, musciatto and dommaschino. The color and cost of the loaves varied widely. A sugar loaf looks a little like a bomb.” [3]

"The Arabic sources from medieval times describe raw sugar as red (sukkar ahmar) rather than brown. A cone-shaped loaf of sugar, also called an ubluj, typically had a white upper section and a red or dark lower point. Tricks...were clearly employed by the sugar merchants to hide the red part, and present the illusion of an entire white cone." [4]

"Sugar itself was exported in solid conical loaves of various sizes, since a cone-shaped mould was in standard use wherever sugar was refined. We tend to think of sugar as a pure, white and unvarying substance, but the difficulty and expense of refining meant that until the mid 19th century there were many more grades of sugar than today, and that a batch or loaf of sugar was by no means always white - and if it looked white on the outside, it may have been brown within." [5]

The 15th century "Liber cure Cocorum" lists various types of sugar in its pages. Take the recipe for frumenty:

"Color it with saffron and salt it well,

"And serve it forth, Sir, at the meal;

"With sugar candy, you may sweeten it,

"If it is served in [a] great lord’s house.

"Take black sugar for meaner men;" [6]

The cost of sugar varied by the quality. In January 1601, during the building of Gawthorope Hall, in Lancaster, the housekeeper paid 22d [7] for 1 pound of sugar, but paid 2s 8d [8] for 1/2 pound of white sugar. [9] For a marriage feast, also at Gawthorope Hall, in 1530, two loaves of sugar weighing 16 pounds were purchased for 9s 9d. [10] In a letter from Sir Edward Wootton to Lord Cobham, dated Calais, March 6th, 1546, states that Sir Edward had “purchased 25 sugar loaves at 6s a loaf, which is 8d a pound,” [11] although the source does not mention where the sugar was purchased: England; France; Spain? A pound of securades sugar, white, refined sugar, in 1433 London, cost 2s 8d. [12]

"“I find no loaf of sugar in 1481 [in written texts]. Two loaves are then bought in London each of 7# weight. In 1529 2 loaves at 7 1/4 # each. In 1527 3 loaves are nearly 7# 5oz each. In 1530 there are loaves of 8# and in 1533 on 6 1/2#.... Sugar loaves then up to 1533 generally weighed about 7#. Afterwards they are manufactured into about 11#, and finally the weight is raised to nearly 16#. The increase in the weight indicates, I think, an improvement in the process of manufacture.... The average price of sugar by the pound being 5 1/4d. In 1520 the price [increases] to 6d. Sugar plate [used to make fondant] ... in 1406 it is 1S 2d the pound; in 1467, 1s 4d; in 1469, 1482, and 1488, 1s [per pound].”" [13]

“Between 1478 and 1482, the price of sugar [in London] dropped dramatically from a mode price of 20d per pound to 12d per pound; and then dropped again to around 7d per pound c.1495. Sugar prices were dropping throughout Europe in these years as a result of the new Portuguese navigation and subsequent colonial developments, which included a large-scale development of sugar production and trade in and from the new territories.” [14] Essex has long been the hub of English sugar refining, importing sugar cane and refining it on English soil. [15]

It is clear that sugar was an affordable luxury for some people of England. “The wages of sundry workmen were first fixed by act of parliament 25th Edward III, 1350. [Harvest-men were paid per day] 1350, 1d; 1460 2d; 1568 4d. [16] While Jane Hodgkinson, the housekeeper of Gawthorope Hall, could spend the equivalent several week’s wages on sugar in Lancaster, for the Hall, [17] it is unlikely that Jane would have been able to afford the sugar for herself. Hall records show that Jane and three other female servants were paid, collectively, 17s, 6d per quarter, or an average of 52.5 pence per quarter or just over 2d, per person, per day. As opposed to the 10 male servants who were paid, collectively, £3, 18s, 4d. per quarter, or 940d per quarter or just over 7d per person a day. [18]

Please keep in mind that Europeans thought of sugar as a spice: an expensive luxury that was imported from far off lands. If you could afford sugar, you bought the quality, and color, that you could afford. Today, raw muscovado sugar actually costs three times what ultra refined white sugar goes for, but this is only because of the industry and machinery used in today's sugar refineries. The very wealthy would buy the finest, whitest sugar to show off their wealth. The middle class would buy the best they could afford and still show off their station merely by having sugar in any quantity. White sugar became an affordable luxury for the poor only in the 19th century, and we would not consider what was sold then to be white sugar. We would look at it and think that it was more like "Sugar In The Raw" processed turbinado sugar than our cheap but pure sugar. 

Why is this important? Well, go on the interwebs and look for a breakdown of what various kinds of sugar can do for the end result of a cookie. It does make a difference in the end product and, depending on who the dish is meant for, changing the sugar will change the dish. Like that recipe from  "Liber cure Cocorum": Candy sugar for a Lord, black sugar for "meaner" men. To my mind, we have some options for medieval sugar. Muscovado or piloncillo for "cheap" sugar. Both are loaded with molasses and are rich with flavor. Turbinado sugar for the mid-range sugar. Still some molasses but mostly sucrose crystals. 

On the high end of the scale, I use organic, pure cane sugar that is unbleached and granulated. It still has some color to it, but it can't be called "brown". Using the organic sugar ensured that no bleaching agents were used to make the sugar completely white, as well as no anti-clumping agents were added. Do not mistake it for evaporated cane juice, which still has a lot of molasses in it: more than turbinado but less than muscovado or piloncillo. You can also use crystal sugar, which is extremely refined sugar that is allowed to grow into large crystals. Rock candy is crystal sugar that is normally grown on sticks. It can also be purchased by the pound so that it can be ground into appropriate size grains needed for any baking project. You can turn all sugar in to crystal sugar, but it takes a while and then you would have to grind the big crystals into the powder size you wish. Beet sugar shouldn't be used for an A&S project: Sugar beets were developed in the 19th century. I don't think it would matter for a dish at feast; I don't think anyone would notice the difference if you used it in a cake or a cookie. 

Why should this matter? Well, we should be striving to create accurate projects. And, as I said earlier, different types of sugar can affect the final product. It is also of interest of how expensive a project would be in period. So, Digby has a recipe in his book for Doctor Harvey's Pleasant Water-Cider [19] that calls for five pounds of brown sugar. Poking about I see that Muscovado sugar was imported into London, from the Caribbean, at a cost of 2S [20] per hundred-weight. [21] A hundred-weight was 8 stone, or 112 pounds. [22] The same sugar was sold retail at an average of 17d per pound around the year Digby published his book. [23] Doctor's Harvey's cider would require 85 pence, or 7 shillings and one pence worth of brown sugar. Which is between $85 and $1118 in today's money, depending on how you do the calculations [24]. Somewhat pricey, even in the perspective of a full bushel of apples required to make this cider. We can conclude that this recipe was probably not intended for the average working Joe or Jane. By selecting the correct type of sugar, we can better simulate what our project would have been like to the people who would have enjoyed it, centuries ago. 

[1] Not to be confused with simple sugar.

[2] Various sources.

[3] Richardson, p101-2

[4] Sato, p69

[5] Richardson, p101

[6] Renfrow’s translation, recipe 56

[7] 22 pence or pennies.

[8] 2 shillings, 8 pence, or 32 pence

[9] Remains, p1001

[10] Harland, 1029

[11] Harland, 1029

[12] Rogers, p678

[13] Rogers, p676-7

[14] Threlfall-Holmes p95, Hicks and Hicks, 152, almost verbatim.

[15] Constable. p496

[16] Remains, 1074

[17] Harland, 1001

[18] Harland, p168. The source mentions that the male servants included the Hall steward and bailiff, who would have been paid more than the farm laborers, housekeepers and carters. My source does not list what other compensation was added, food, clothing, etc. Harland does list Christmas presents given to the servants, which were nice bonuses at the end of the year, elsewhere in his book.

[19] p104

[20] 24d

[21] Governance

[22] No, I don't know why it's called a hundred weight. Feel free to figure it our on your own.

[23] Boulton, p459

[24] see https://www.measuringworth.com/ for more information.

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