The Medieval History of Sugar

Follow Tasting History here:
Reddit: r/TastingHistory

LINKS TO INGREDIENTS & EQUIPMENT**

LINKS TO SOURCES**

**Amazon offers a small commission on products sold through their affiliate links, so each purchase made from this link, whether this product or another, will help to support this channel with no additional cost to you.

MAKSHUFA
ORIGINAL 13th Century RECIPE (From Kitab al-Tabikh) Trans. Charles Perry
The way to make it is to take equal parts sugar, almonds or pistachios, honey and sesame oil. Pound the sugar and almonds and mix them together. Take enough saffron to color it and add it with rose-water. Then throw the sesame oil in the dist so that it boils and boils up. Put the honey on it and stir it until foam appears, and throw the sugar and almonds on the honey. Stir continuously on a quiet fire until it is nearly thickened, and take it up.

MODERN RECIPE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 ⅓ cup (225g) Sugar
- 2 cups (225g) Pistachios or Almonds
- ⅔ cup (225g) Honey
- 1 cup (225g) Sesame Oil
- A pinch (10-15 threads) of saffron ground
- 3 Tablespoons Rosewater

METHOD
1. Grind the nuts into a powder then mix with the sugar. Add the saffron and rosewater and mix.
2. Set a large saucepan over medium heat and add the sesame oil. Once hot, lower the burner to low and stir in the honey. Allow it to heat for several minutes until a light layer of foam covers the top. Then add the nut and sugar mixture and stir in.
3. Stirring continuously, raise the heat to medium and let the candy cook until it starts to thicken; about 270°F/132°C. (Do not let it rise above 290°F/143°C or it will burn).
4. Remove the pot from the heat and, working quickly, either set dollops of the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment or aluminum foil OR spread the full mixture onto the baking sheet. The latter will then be broken up like peanut brittle rather than being individual candies.
5. Allow to cool then serve. The candy will become very sticky at room temperature and will lose its sheen, so keep it in the refrigerator to minimize this.

PHOTO CREDITS

#tastinghistory #candy #sugar #history

[TastingHistory]

Everyone enjoy this first episode of the happy, upbeat history of sugar! Next week I will talk about the more depressing "recent" history of sugar-cane.

[RavenAttwoode]

Pliny: "Sugar is only used for medical purposes."
Mary Poppins: Say no more

[croncorcen]

can we all just appreciate the fact that this guy is actually researching the correct pronunciation of names and ingredients?!

[happy_camper]

Kid 1: I got M&Ms!
Kid 2: I got Twizzlers!
Kid 3: I got a 13th c. Middle Eastern pistachio and rose confection.

[wolfgangromerdr.]

As mentioned before "darken the pupils" means dilating them, which happens when your parasympathic nerve system emits more of its hormons, which could lead to a shock. Septic shocks were pretty common when infected at that time due to a lack of antibiotocs or adequate treatment.
So a sickness that darkens your pupils is a pretty severe sickness.

[azazelsiad]

I think the whole pupils darkening thing was mentioning how with copious amounts of sugar your pupils will dilate which can be perceived as “darkening”.

[communismwithgiggles]

People, be careful with unwrapped candy when you go trick or treating with your kids, I found an entire Ottoman Empire regiment in one of those

[Terrelli]

1. A gluten free historical recipe! Thank you!
2. “Throw the sesame oil in the dist” is such a lovely poetic phrase.
3. Great job on the Arabic pronunciation!
4. Maybe the “darkened” pupils were dilated pupils. The ancient Greeks described colors in reference to light and shadow, not color family, so the sea was sometimes described as bronze, presumably because it sparkles like hammered bronze. By that token pupils might be “darkened” simply by dilating and showing less of the iris.

[Moona]

"These Twinkies are for my glaucoma, man!" D E A D

[NPC.]

Sugar is mentioned in the ancient Pali texts. There's mention of a sugar factory in the ancient Pali texts in India. A monk called Revata the Doubter saw them mixing in a little flour to make the sugar stick together in balls so he thought it shouldn't be allowable in the afternoon, but the Buddha said it was still ok. (from my friend who is a senior monk and Buddhist scholar, fluent in Pali)

[acidx]

An old candy-makers trick I learned help with boil over is to smear the top 1 inch of the rim of your pan with softened butter before you start cooking in it. If your sugar mixture rises up to the butter line it will instantly back off in time for you to reduce heat! Great vid can't wait to try it!

[janteo]

His pronounciation in different languages is on point

[alexcarroll]

You MUST do ma'amoul: one of the oldest confections on earth, from ancient Mesopotamia, delicious and something everyone can make!

[stargirl]

People calling it sweet salt made me think that, even back then, someone accidentally made a cake with salt 😂

[sullyvstheworld]

Seeing someone from a different culture respect and be so enthusiastic about my own is heartwarming. Much love for your entire channel.

[lulucthlhu]

It's so great to finally see an Arabic recipe here! Being an Arab, it really brings me pride to see it represented on this channel :)

[MiWill]

These pokemon stuffies are getting shockingly detailed

[snigdhalahiry]

Sugar as medicine sounds like the most 1AD thing ever

[johninitaly]

Re candy thermometers. People used to make candy by evaluating the “ball” condition as it cooked. I recall soft balls, hard ball and something like “cracked” ball. You dribbled a bit of the stuff into cold water and the relative hardness of the ball it formed was how you rated it’s doneness.

[netowner]

There's a Chinese YouTuber called Dianxi Xiaoge who cooks stuff with traditional methods (I believe she's from rural China not sure which region) and she uses the large sugar crystals the Greeks mentioned being the size of hazelnuts, I found them very interesting the first time I saw them