As trade intensified, Europe used more and more sugar.
At the time of the Crusades, from the twelfth century onwards, sugar was a luxury commodity, strictly reserved for medicinal purposes and sold exclusively in apothecaries. Famed as a treatment for digestive and chest disorders, sugar was also considered to be effective against gout, rheumatism, dysentery and a host of other ailments.
Apothecaries gradually began to use sugar in other ways. They added it to certain potions to improve the taste, and sold it as syrups or in tablet form. Barley sugar was also used to treat colds and chest infections.
In the fifteenth century, the French acquired a taste for foods that combined sweet and sour or savoury flavours. Sugar was considered to be more agreeable to the palate than honey, a better preservative, and easier to use;
it reduced the acidity of vinegar, citrus fruit juices and white wine, and was perfect for sweetening spices. Sugar gradually began to play an important role in the culinary arts, especially in desserts. It acquired a reputation as a prestigious commodity that was found only in the most noble of kitchens.
It was only in the seventeenth century that sugar was used for its taste. It made the perfect complement for fresh fruit and butterless biscuits, and became a vital ingredient for jams and stewed fruit. It also found its way into sorbets and ice cream, and was transformed into treats such as sugared almonds and nougats. It was added to liqueurs and syrups and became fashionable to drink with tea, coffee and chocolate. Even though sugar was the prerogative of the rich, everyone knew what it was.
“ “Everyone knows that sugar is a solid, white, sweet substance with a pleasant taste, widely used in dispensaries, kitchens and even in pharmacies in the preparation of syrups and various other remedies, dissolving perfectly in water to which it gives an agreeable taste without imparting either colour or odour. "L’Encyclopédie de Diderot et d’Alembert" 1751-1772.