In the early modern period, honey was the only natural source of sweetness in Europe at the time, but the supply of honey was erratic and produced in small quantities.

Honey became a luxury at the time, and only the aristocracy could afford it.

So, the Bible says that heaven is a place flowing with milk and honey.

I don't know if there is milk and honey in heaven, but there must be foodies in heaven.

Sugarcane, a tall grass, is the raw material for making sugar, and was domesticated as a crop in Asan in 300 BC at the latest.

It was only after a thousand years that it spread to China, neon, and the Middle East.

The Arabs were the first to cultivate sugar cane on a large scale, and Egypt used to produce the best sugar in the world.

In that year, a large number of Arabs conquered the Iberian Peninsula with extremely cruel methods, and then introduced sugar cane to the conquered lands.

During the Crusades in Europe, Jerusalem discovered that this plant could bring them a blissful sweet taste, and sugar cane spread to Europe.

Originally, sugar was a luxury, it was an aristocratic thing.

Venetian merchants used their merchant fleets, along with fortifications in the Mediterranean, to fight trade wars and dominate the sugar trade in medieval Europe.

With the rise of the Ottoman Empire, sugar continued to spread westward.

In the 15th century, the Ottomans had already taken away the *** area controlled by the Venetians, and controlled the trade routes between the East and the West.

The Venetians and the Portuguese joined forces and embarked on an epoch-making voyage, one of which was in search of sugar.

The Portuguese discovered the island of São Tomé and introduced sugar production here, where sugar production was revolutionized.

Cane sugar brought great commercial benefits to the Portuguese and Venetians.

The growth of sugarcane requires a lot of manpower to irrigate, and the sugar production process itself is an extremely labor-intensive and time-consuming process.

Ripe sugar cane is pressed into juice and boiled in a large pot until the water evaporates.

In order to maintain a continuous supply of sugar throughout the year, the colonists needed to consider the source of labor, and the slave trade was created.

As a result, the slave trade flourished in Africa.

Later, in order to achieve greater profits, the Portuguese introduced sugarcane to Brazil and expanded production.

Among them, Columbus's father-in-law had a sugar cane plantation in Madeira. As a result, the Portuguese dominated sugar production for a hundred years.

By the 18th century, Britain, Africa, and the Americas began to form a stable "trade triangle", with Britain shipping industrial goods or spirits to Africa, Africa bringing slaves to the Americas, and sugar produced and processed in the Americas being sold back to Britain.

In this triangular chain relationship, Britain has accumulated huge wealth and resources, which has also changed the status of cane sugar in human economic life.

In South America, sugar production in Haiti was also booming at this time, when at its peak, 480,000 slaves were engaged in sugar production in Haiti, compared with 30,000 whites.

Haiti became a paradise for white people to get rich, and a hell for black slaves, where slaves died every day in the production of cane sugar.

At that time, Haiti imported more than twice as many black slaves as the ugly country.

This led to the world's first race war in Haiti, which was fought from 1791 to 1804 because the colonial government was unwilling to abolish slavery.

Eventually, the freed slaves took control of Haiti, and they in turn drove and slaughtered the original freedmen.

But they lack management experience and enthusiasm for growing sugarcane.

As a result, Haiti's economy is declining rapidly, and it can no longer be developed, making it the poorest region in the world.

The history of sugar cultivation in Hawaii began by the descendants of which Protestant missionaries.

Later, a large number of Chou Chinese began to buy land in Hawaii to open up sugar cane plantations, and then brought in indentured laborers from China, and the original Hawaiian population was reduced from 300,000 to 50,000 now.

In 1876, the country signed a treaty of reciprocity of trade with Hawaii, giving Hawaiian sugar a preferential status in the country.

As a result of this shift, Hawaiian cane sugar skyrocketed nineteen-fold over the next two decades, almost losing to the ugly country.

In 25 years, the Chou people controlled 80% of Hawaii's sugar cane plantations, and the original population fell to 35,000.

Later, in 1890, the McKinley tax was introduced.

This tax law stipulates that anyone who signs a trade treaty can enjoy tariff-free treatment of sugar.

The agreement deprives Hawaii of its original preferential status.

The ugly country also set very strict conditions for the preferential state of sugar cane, intending to include Hawaii in the protectorate of the ugly country and obtain control of Pearl Harbor.

The king of Hawaii at the time rejected the conditions of the ugly country.

The sugar cane plantation owners conspired with Stevens, the consulate of the Ugly Kingdom, to stage a coup d'état, and the army and navy of the Ugly Kingdom quickly occupied the island and overthrew Queen Liliucarani.

In 1898, McKinley, the boss of the Ugly Country, legislated to annex Hawaii and incorporated it into the territory of the Ugly Kingdom.

Sugar brings not only its sweetness, but also the suffering of Africa and South America for more than two centuries.

Of course, in Europe, in the 16th century, sugar was definitely the happiest source of high society.

The three main uses in French cuisine are: sweetening dishes, preserving fruits and vegetables, making sugar sculptures and models, or adding juice to food.

The dough made by mixing sugar with various dried pes, especially with almonds to make marzipan gummies, is still the basic ingredient in making confectionery today.

At the same time, the method of boiling sugar is outlined in French recipes to produce various syrups and sugary products (preserves, barley sugar and caramel).

But the most impressive thing is the extravagant sugar statues.

In 1571, Paris hosted a wedding feast for Charles IX and Queen Elisabeth from Austria.

All who witnessed the event agreed that it was the most elaborate event they had ever seen.

Every time the horn is blown, a dish is served;

Each dish has a special theme.

The dinner was followed by a ball, and the "dessert set" – preserves, sugary nuts, purees, macaroons, biscuits and assorted meats and fish – was made with a sugar paste.

On the main table are 6 giant sugar statues, telling the story of how Minerva brought peace to Athens.

Sugar has become the core ingredient of all kinds of banquets, especially formal banquets.

At the most important banquet tables, sugar statues are on a par with floral displays and delicate silverware.

Banquet organizers even imitate the templates of contemporary landscape architects to create exquisite landscapes with sugar sculptures.

Skilled confectioners use a variety of colors of sugar and marzipan to create any scene and picture that the male and female protagonists want.

These displays of power, wealth, and status are crucial.

The chefs of the royal court and the lavish mansions refined the art of making edible statues from sugary ingredients with the aim of breathtaking, memorable and feasting.

Chefs mix sugar with nuts, binders, or pour liquid sugar into special molds.

They compete and surpass each other, grace the tables of formal banquets and state celebrations with elaborate sugar figurines, and win the admiration of their guests.

These sugar mixtures, known in French as "sugar figurines" (cognate with the English word for "delicate"), may have been designed in the shape of fish or meat for consumption between servings.

Over time, the sugar sculpture was gradually given another layer of meaning:

In this way, the ruler conveyed a message to his rivals, friends, and foes, and amazed his guests by showing off his master's status and wealth.

The rest of the privileged classes of society followed suit and soon developed the habit of eating sugar.

High-ranking clergy and eminent scholars have found the sugar statues to be a perfect display of their identity and status.

In 1515, when Thomas Wolsey was ordained Cardinal of Westminster Abbey, he ordered the production of grand displays of sugar-sculpted statues such as churches, castles, beasts, birds, and even a set of chess.

At the inauguration ceremony in 1503, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Oxford presented the "Eight Towers of Oxford" made of sugar statues, as well as sugar statues of the leaders of the university and the king.

In 1526, Henry VIII hired seven cooks to prepare a sugar feast in Greenwich, presenting sugar-sculpted castles and manors decorated with swans, large and small;

There was also a chef who designed the tower and the chessboard, all "adorned with pure gold".

Even bolder, some dinner parties display models of genitals made of sugar for grandstanding.

However, sugar statues at more formal religious or diplomatic dinners are more elegant, such as making sugar statues with religious or royal imagery to suit the occasion.

The royal families of France and Britain all had extremely serious dental problems – tooth erosion, missing teeth, gum disease, collapsed and even disfigured mouths.

But this is not surprising, everything is a consequence of excessive sugar consumption.

As wealth spread to the new merchant and trading classes (many of whom had made ill-gotten gains from overseas trade and British expansion), they were also tainted with the luxuries of the upper classes.

Naturally, they also began to use sugar to show their wealth and please their guests.

However, sugar, like other luxury goods, is less representative of power the more popular it is among the lower classes.

At the end of the 16th century, when sugar became more widespread and cheaper (thanks to slaves from Africa who worked in the Americas), the elaborate sugar statues lost their role as a display of power.

Both the elite and the upper classes in Britain usually have access to sugar in London.

By the mid-17th century, sugar was also available to the British in small, remote towns.

For example, in Mansfield in 1635 and Rochdale in 1649, sugar was available.

In 1683, in Tabore, Cheshire, people could buy sugar from the shop of Ralph Edge, a local hardware merchant.

When sugar enters the families of the lower classes, it loses its social reputation in the upper classes.

From the early recipes, we can see that sugar has become more common in many ordinary households.

Recipes with a British character first appeared in the 80s of the 16th century.

In recipes, sugar is used as an important ingredient for preserving and cooking food.

The Housewives of England by Jervis Markham was first published in 1616.

The book draws on previous advice and recipes, suggesting on several occasions that sugar should be added during cooking and food preparation.

Sugar is thought to be an ideal ingredient in salads, pancakes, roast beef and fried pies, or to remove offal from animal offal, or in sauces, oyster pies, puddings, pies, jellies and spice cakes;

Of course, you can also make a "sugar tray".

The book also points out that an ideal housewife should not only be limited to cooking, but also be responsible for the health and well-being of the whole family.

The book introduces the latest knowledge of nursing and wellness at the time, as well as how to deal with all potential diseases and accidents.

In this regard, sugar is invaluable.

"It can be used to treat heart disease, cough and prolonged cough. Sugar can also be used for diseases such as eye diseases, tuberculosis, hemostasis, abdominal pain, and even old sores. ”

At this moment, sugar is not only delicious and delicious, but also can be used as medicine to remove bitterness;

It has both symbolic and practical value.

Sugar can be used to make statues, which are spectacular; When used properly, sugar can also be used to heal and save lives.

In the kitchen, sugar is not only an ingredient, but also a medicine, which can be seen in the spread of *** teaching.

With the development of a new *** orthodox doctrine, a new *** medicine also began to emerge.

This is due in large part to the spread of the Prophet and his followers, the rise of new schools of thought in the region centered in Baghdad, and the emergence of Arabic translations of classical texts, such as Galen's Greek medical writings.

Therefore, Galen's medical thought permeates the world and even the wider field.

This period produced a wealth of medical literature, especially the dominant pharmacopoeia, for study and answers to questions from anyone interested in medicine.

It has also given rise to a new breed of doctors, whose work and research are now in print, advancing knowledge and understanding of the human body, its diseases, and its treatments.

Among them, the most famous and influential is Al-Raz.

He said: "Bitter medicine should also be tasteful. ”

Like the Greek and Roman physicians who preceded them, the *** physicians and later (especially the Spanish and Jewish medical authorities) found that sugar and honey were the ideal "antidotes" for certain bitter-tasting medicines.

As a result, sugar has gradually become an important medicinal material in medicine and European pharmacology.

The development of medicine is also due to its vast territory and abundant products, which can be used in medicine by a wide variety of flora, fauna and mineral resources.

By the 13th century, there were more than 3,000 commonly used medicinal herbs on the apothecary's list, many of which were exotic from distant tropical regions.

Sugar may be just one of many of these commodities, but it has quickly found its own unique niche.

This is due both to its own function and to the fact that it makes bitter medicine palatable.

These medicinal traditions were introduced to Western Europe, where pharmacists (the name derives from the word "wine kiln", meaning "place where wine, spices and herbs are stored") to make sugar into medicines, or mix it with other herbs.