A natural nutrient, sugar, also known as sucrose, is a vital ingredient in our daily diet. To meet the body’s energy requirements, carbohydrates should account for between 50 and 55% of a balanced diet. Sugar, wichever be in form, is a source of carbohydrates, essential to our health and well being.
White or brown, granulated or caster, lump or cube sugar, icing sugar, candy sugar, demerara (or cassonade), soft brown vergeoise, preserving sugar - the world of sugar consists of nine varieties, each with its own taste qualities and specific uses. While some sugars have established their pedigree, others, less well known, deserve to be discovered. Expert cooks select a specific sugar for a specific recipe in order to set special texture, colour or flavour that it can imports.
Sugar also displays a whole range of characteristics and tastes that affect the way it behaves when used. It is a sweetening, colouring, bulking agent and preservative.
It can alter boiling and freezing points, affect the flavour and smell of
some foods and add bulk to others.
The first type of sugar to emerge from the various stages of the industrial process is granulated sugar, which is white or brown, depending on whether it comes from sugar beet or sugar cane. It is also the source of other kinds of sugar :