White sugar

Sucre blanc

What it is

Cane was chewed in New Guinea nine thousand years ago; India learned to crystallise the juice, and the Sanskrit sharkara became sucre, sugar, azúcar. For four centuries it was the engine of the Atlantic slave trade, which is the part the word does not carry.

In the kitchen

It does far more than sweeten — it holds moisture, browns, and stops gluten forming. Cutting it in a cake changes the texture, not just the taste.

Goes with

Butter Egg Vanilla T45 flour Lemon Cream Dark chocolate Cinnamon

Same species

Cane vinegar Chinese rock sugar Dark rum Demerara sugar Golden syrup Icing sugar

Also used with

Black locust flower Malic acid Tartaric acid Instant modified waxy maize starch Arbutus berry Assam tea

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