[Continued from Part 5]
Travel Tip
Further enhance your understanding of the history of sugar by visiting the Mount Gay Rum Distillery on Barbados. This is the world's oldest brand of rum since it can be authenticated as far back as 1703. Visiting hours are weekdays from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Learn how to make not only rum but also the barrels it goes in and then relax in the bar with exotic rum cocktails as you learn about the role that rum plays in Barbadian culture. Don't miss the free cocktail shot of the day. Here are some pictures that will whet your appetite.
- The distillery. (Somewhat uninviting, I'll admit.)
- Sights from the tour.
- Well appointed theater.
- Museum of artifacts.
- Bar.
- Gift shop.
- The company logo. Be aware that the red star in the logo stands not for the location of the distillery, which is in the northern part of the island, but rather for the location of Bridgetown, the capital of Barbados.
- If you can't make it to the distillery, you can still go to the Mount Gay Rum visitors center in Bridgetown.
- A bottle of Mount Gay Rum.
Alternate Travel Tip
To prepare for your next trip to Brazil, watch this video, which is described in the following way: "A couple visiting Brazil for the World Cup learns how this remarkable plant [sugar cane] lowers carbon dioxide emissions, reduces petroleum use and helps create a cleaner, healthier planet." This video, which shows what it is like to live in a Utopian society based on sugar cane, is produced by the Brazilian Sugarcane Industry Association.
The Fruit Explorer Takes a Road Trip to the Oasis Cafe to Try Sugar Cane Juice
Last summer I saw a sign in front of the Oasis Cafe in Medford advertising sugar cane juice. On 19 Dec 2015 I went over there to give it a try. (The Oasis Cafe is at 377 Main Street in Medford, about 2.2 miles from where I live. It is next door to the Oasis Restaurant, a Brazilian place that is a favorite hang-out; I have eaten there with many of you.) I asked for a glass of sugar cane juice and was given choice of a small or a large. I choose the small for $4.23, tax included; the large was over $6. The server went into the back; I was wondering if he was going to pour my juice from a can. To my astonishment, he emerged with two stalks of sugar cane, each about three feet long. He ran each stalk through a machine, then took the skin, doubled it over, and ran it through a second time to get all the juice out. (The first picture below shows sugar cane being juiced in a the set-up much like that at the Oasis Cafe but was not taken there since I was not fast enough to get a picture when the server unexpectedly emerged with the sugar cane stalks.) He filled a sixteen-ounce glass with the juice (see the second picture, taken after I had drunk a good bit). I took a sip. I was expecting it to taste like sugar water, but it didn't; it had a very piercing sweetness with a strong overtone of tropical fruit. Another patron was kind enough to take a picture of the Fruit Explorer enjoying his sugar cane juice (see third picture). The verdict: I like it, but since on a per volume basis it costs more than twelve times as much as milk, it will be a very occasional treat. (I brought the unfinished portion home. The last hour of working on this e-mail before sending it was fueled by my glass of sugar cane juice.)
Rick
References
Blackburn, Robin, The Making of New World Slavery: From the Baroque to the Modern, 1492-1800, Verso, 1997. This is a thorough and reliable book though left-leaning. This book is of special value to me since its focus is slavery, not sugar. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Burk, Mark J., "Sustainable Production of Industrial Chemicals from Sugars," International Sugar Journal, 2010, vol. 112, no. 1333, pp. 30-35. Available at this site.
Cooke, D.A., and R.K. Scott, eds., The Sugar Beet Crop: Science into Practice, Chapman & Hall, 1993. This book of essays covers the cultivation, harvesting, and processing of sugar beets. This provides much more detail than could be covered here. Sizable fragments of this book are available at this site. I only had access to this on-line version.
Copeland, Cassandra, Curtis Jolly, and Henry Thompson, "The History and Potential of Trade between Cuba and the US." (The title page of this typescript states that this paper appeared in the Journal of Economics and Business, 2011, but I don't know if this is the case; if it is, the pagination of the published version will be different.) This mediocre article is available at http://www.auburn.edu/~thomph1/cubahistory.pdf.
Drayton, A. Philip, ed., Sugar Beet, Blackwell, 2006. This appears to be a reliable overview of sugar beets, but I cannot say this with confidence since only a small portion of it is available on-line at this site. I only had access to this on-line version.
Dunn, Richard S., Sugar and Slaves: The Rise of the Planter Class in the English West Indies, 1624-1713, Norton paperback, 1973 (first published in hardback in 1972). This is a reliable, scholarly book. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Evert, Ray F., and Susan E. Eichhorn, Raven Biology of Plants, W.H. Freeman, eighth edition, 2013. This is the leading textbook on botany. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Fischer, David Hackett, Paul Revere's Ride, Oxford University Press, 1994. This is the standard work on Paul Revere's midnight ride. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Langer, R.H.M., and G.D. Hill, Agricultural Plants, Cambridge University Press, 1982. This is a quick but reliable survey of the major agricultural plants. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Lewis, David Levering, God's Crucible: Islam and the Making of Europe, 570 - 1215, Norton, 2008. This is a pedestrian overview of the first 600 years of Islam. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Macinnis, Peter, Bittersweet: The Story of Sugar, Allen and Unwin, 2002. This is a well written and colorful book that is unfailingly interesting though somewhat superficial and not always reliable. It loses much of its value since, while it has a bibliography, it has no notes. Also, this book tends to wander from the point, though perhaps I shouldn't criticize him too heavily for this common flaw among writers. I had access to this book in hard copy.
McCallum, Justin, "A Brief Historiography of U.S. Hegemony in the Cuban Industry," This paper is available at this site. This review article recounts the standard argument that the U.S. take-over of the Cuban sugar industry after the Spanish-American War pushed many Cubans into virtual serfdom and, in addition, caused demographic dislocations as many men immigrated to serve as sugar workers; as a result, Cubans were highly susceptible to Castro's rhetoric, pp. 3, 5, 8. One argument is that, "U.S. domination of Cuba, springing from the sugar industry, proffered a negative view of capitalism throughout the island that led to Cuba's socialist movement and, ultimately, the Cuban Communist Party" [p. 9].
Middlekauff, Robert, The Glorious Cause: The American Revolution, 1763-1789, Oxford paperback, 1985 (first issued in hardback in 1982). This is a standard work on the American Revolution. The volume I quote, which is in my library, is the first edition. A revised and expanded second edition, which I have not consulted, was issued in 2005.
Miller, John C., Origins of the American Revolution, Little, Brown, 1943. Miller is my favorite historian of colonial times and the early republic. Not only is he a good historian who writes well, but his books are packed with humor. As Mike once said, the only book of Miller's that falls short is his book on the Revolutionary War; the problem is that George Washington, the central figure of this book, is so august that Miller was not willing to ridicule him. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Mintz, Sidney W., Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History, Penguin Books, 1986 (first published in 1985). This book, though written by a Marxist anthropologist, is a reliable, brief overview of the history of sugar, though it does get tedious when the author agonizes over the role of anthropology or becomes absorbed in Marxist subtleties. I had access to this book in hard copy.
[M&M] Morgan, Edmund S., and Helen M. Morgan, The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution, new, revised edition, Collier paperback, 1970 (this edition first published in hardback in 1962, first edition published in 1953). This standard work on the Stamp Act has a chapter on the Sugar Act. The page references above are to the off-brand paperback in my library. If you follow this up, you will probably be using a more reputable edition. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Nelson, David L., and Michael M. Cox, Lehninger Principles of Biochemistry, W.H. Freeman, fifth edition, 2008. This is a standard biochemistry textbook. I had access to this book in hard copy.
New English Bible with the Apocrypha, Oxford University Press, 1970. This is my favorite translation of the Bible. It is clearer and easier to understand than the King James.
Parkman, Francis, Count Frontenac and New France Under Louis XIV: France and England in North America, Part Fifth, Little, Brown, Centenary edition, 1922 (first published in 1877). This volume and the next are in the seven part series that tells the story of the French and English in North America through 1763. This series is one of the great reads of American literature. I strongly recommend it to everyone; though long, it is quick and absorbing reading. My set of the complete works of Parkman is one of the ornaments of my living room. The referenced passage is in chapter XVIII. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Parkman, Francis, A Half-century of Conflict: France and England in North America, Part Sixth, vol. 1, Little, Brown, Centenary edition, 1922 (first published in 1892). The referenced passage is in chapter XIII. I had access to this book in hard copy.
Puleo, Stephen, Dark Tide; The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919, Beacon Press, 2003. While everyone in Boston has heard of the great molasses flood, it always seems that nobody has any authentic knowledge about it. There are so many threads to this story that a book-length treatment is required, and this book is apparently the only full treatment. I had access to this book in hard copy.
[USDA] U.S. Department of Agriculture, "The Economic Feasibility of Ethanol Production from Sugar in the United States," July 2006. This report clearly and systematically lays out the various factors that go into producing ethanol from various crops and estimates the cost. Its main drawback is that it is a decade old. This report can be found at this site.
