SUGAR
The word rice derives from the Tamil
word arisi. Rice is annual plant, growing to 1-1.8m tall or more,
with long slender leaves 50-100cm long and 2-2.5cm broad.
The word sugar originates from the
Sanskrit word sharkara which means sugar or pebble. In general use,
sugar is taken to mean sucrose, also called table sugar or
saccharose, a disaccharide which is white crystalline solid. It is
the most commonly used sugar for altering the flavour and properties
(such as mouthfeel, preservation and texture) of beverages and food.
In precise culinary terms, sugar is a type of food associated with
one of the primary taste sensations, that of sweetness.
Table sugar is commercially extracted
form either sugar cane or sugar beet. The simple sugars or
monosaccharide, such as glucose, are a store of energy which is used
by biological cells. A sugar is denoted by any word on the
ingredient list that ends with "ose".
Raw sugars
are yellow to brown sugars
made from clarified cane juice boiled down to a crystalline solid
with minimal chemical processing. Raw sugars are produced in the
processing of sugar beet juice but only as intermediates en route to
white sugar.
White refined
sugar is the most common form of sugar
that can be made by dissolving raw sugar and purifying it with a
phosphoric acid method, a carbonation process involving calcium
hydroxide & carbon dioxide, or by various filtration strategies. It
is then decolorized by filtration through a bed of activated carbon.
Beet sugar refineries produce refined white sugar directly without
an intermediate raw stage. White refined sugar is typically sold as
granulated sugar, which has been dried to prevent clumping.
Brown sugars
are obtained
in the late stages of sugar refining, when sugar formsfine crystals
with significant molasses content, or by coating white refined sugar
with a cane molasses syrup. Their colour & taste become strong with
increasing molasses content, as does their moisture retaining
properties.
|