Question

How and when did sugar make its way to Europe? Where did it come from originally?

Answer 1

• History of the world is filled with culinary ingredients that had great impact on our civilizations, development of sciences, and global socio-economic status.
• One of the most impactful of them was sugar, high end “fine spice” of the Asia and Middle East, who was responsible not only for large changes in our diets, but also as a starting point in the development of large European trading fleers in early Renaissance and propagating of African slaves around the world between 17th and 19th century that allowed sugar to finally become bulk commodity that is used by everyone.
• Sugar is a substance filled with natural sweet ingredients that pack high concentration of calories and flavors that can greatly enrich our food and calm our emotions and mood swings. Because of that, early human civilizations tried to find and cultivate plants and fruits that had the most amount of sugar in them.
• First ones who managed to find that plant were civilizations from New Guinea, who some 10 thousand years ago successfully domesticated, sugarcane. Their knowledge of this incredible plant slowly moved across Southeast Asia, southern China, until it reached India, which was home of the first organized sugar production.
• Sugar was only discovered by western Europeans as a result of the Crusades in the 11th Century AD. Crusaders returning home talked of this "new spice" and how pleasant it was. The first sugar was recorded in England in 1099. The subsequent centuries saw a major expansion of western European trade with the East, including the importation of sugar. It is recorded, for instance, that sugar was available in London at "two shillings a pound" in 1319 AD.
• This led to the slow expansion of traders toward the east, most notably, formation of few European settlements in the Middle East by Venetians. Because sugar could be made only after very labor intensive period in both growing and processing, it maintained hits high price after Venetian, Italian and Spanish traders managed to transport it back to Europe.
• 14th and 15th century saw the rise of the European made sugar, but because of labor intensive work, it was grown primarily by slaves in Cyprus and Kingdom of Castile (Valencia), and European workers in Andalusia, Algarve and Madeira (Portugal).
• By mid 1600s sugar production spread all across Spanish, French and Dutch lands in the New World, bringing drop of its price and enabling it to finally became available on the tables of the poorer Europeans.
• High influx of slaves made Caribbean the largest worldwide producer of sugar. Low prices of sugar from Guadaloupe, Barbados, Jamaica and Saint-Domingue (modern day Haiti) caused the end of the sugar trade between Europe and India in 18th century.
• During this time, sugar became enormously popular in the Europe, even managing to surpass grains by its popularity and value. New foods such as jams, coffee, tea, cocoa, candy, processed foods and many other caused great changes in European and north American diets.
• By the end of 18th century, prices of sugar dropped to such levels that it became available to everyone, everywhere in the world.