Skip to main content

Misguided by Molasses {October #Unprocessed}

For day two of October #Unprocessed, I made some steel cut oats while I squeezed in a workout before the rest of my household began to stir. Then I served it up with roasted figs, cinnamon, nutmeg, and molasses. Here was my thinking: maple syrup is on the approved sweetener list; molasses is darker, that must be better for you, right? Like wheat bread versus white bread. Like brown rice versus white rice. Right?!? Wrong. Dead wrong.


Well, here's what I learned this morning: molasses is the epitome of processed; it's the byproduct of processing sugar cane or sugar beets into that glossy, white sugar that is to be avoided. Great! I'm still giving myself a pass for good intentions. I was completely misguided, but at least I know something now that I didn't know before this morning.

A brief history of molasses, paraphrased from madehow.com...

Molasses, from the Latin word melaceres, means "honey-like." And it's a thick dark syrup that is a byproduct of refining sugar, resulting when sugar is crystallized out of sugar cane or sugar beet juice.

People in India began pressing cane as early as 500 B.C. But it wasn't until the Middle Ages that Arab invaders brought the process to Europe. Then Christopher Columbus brought sugar cane to the West Indies. From there, molasses figured prominently in the slave trade routes of the late 1800s - English rum was sold to slave traders in Africa who trafficked people from the West Indies and West Indian molasses made its way back to England.

Sugar beets contain approximately 15 teaspoons per beet root. And because they are more tolerant to cold and the tops can used for cattle feed, beets began to replace sugar cane as the source for producing sugar. Whether the base is sugar cane or beets, the extraction and refining process of sugar results in a byproduct from the circular path of washing and heating the cane and beets with hot water. Voila molasses! That will no longer be on my "unprocessed" foods list. Live and learn.

Comments

  1. Great post! Spreckels was the West Coast hub of sugar beet production for much of the 20th century. According to Beth's parents, the place smelled awful.

    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spreckels_Sugar_Company#

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, K. I had no idea about Spreckels. Interesting!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t

Quick Pickled Red Onions and Radishes

If you've been reading my blog for even a short amount of time, you probably know how much I love to pickle things. I was just telling a friend you can pickle - with vinegar - or you can ferment - with salt - for similar delicious effect. The latter has digestive benefits and I love to do that, but when I need that pop of sour flavor quickly, I whip up quick pickles that are ready in as little as a day or two. I've Pickled Blueberries , Pickled Asparagus , Pickled Cranberries , Pickled Pumpkin , and even Pickled Chard Stems ! This I did last night for an upcoming recipe challenge that requires I include radishes. Ummmm...of course I'm pickling them! Ingredients  makes 1 quart jar radishes, trimmed and sliced organic red onions, peeled and thinly sliced (I used a mandolin slicer) 3/4 C vinegar (I used white distilled vinegar) 3/4 C water 3 T organic granulated sugar 1 T salt (I used some grey sea salt) 6 to 8 grinds of black pepper Proce