In an age when obesity seems to be a major problem in the world, it’s a good idea to find alternatives to the ingestion of sugar. We all know the harmful consequences of an excess of sugar-related products into our system. Counting calories is the name of the game.
Our ancestors had a ingenious way to tackle the problem. They made their own sweetener through a homemade process using rudimentary but effective cooking utensils.
They squeezed the juice out of sugar cane using a machine known as a trapiche (sugar mill) powered, either by a horse or a person. The sugar cane juice was then boiled and stirred until a thick honey was produced. This liquid sweetener was poured into glass containers and used by the family as a replacement for sugar. In Quebrada de Hato where my wife was born and raised, this product is known as “dulce de caña.”
Below are several pictures of the rudimentary equipment used by my wife’s relatives to make the brownish thick liquid syrup. Let’s take a look.
Picture of a manual sugar mill displayed at Mi Pueblito to squeeze sugar cane juice to make the liquid sweetener. The long pole is turned around by either a horse or a man, to activate the small home mill. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
A closer look of the mill used to extract the juice from the sugar cane. The metallic canal at the bottom receives the flow of sugar cane juice. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
This is where the sugar cane juice is boiled and stirred continuously using large pans or pots (pailas). The oven uses wood to produce heat. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
A closer look at the oven used to boil the sugar cane juice and the filter used to eliminate the impurities of the boiling juice. A gourd is attached to a long stick to filter the impurities. Photo ©Omar Upegui R.
If the word gourd is not in your dictionary, let me explain that a gourd is a drinking container, water container or ornament made from the hard hollowed and dried skin of a squash or calabash fruit. Their durable shells are used for ornaments and as utensils (e.g., drinking cups, dippers, and bowls.) Colorful and oddly shaped gourds are picked for ornamental use. In Spanish a gourd is known as a calabaza or totuma.
After my father-in-law-passed away, this process to make homemade sweetener was discontinued. The younger generation of the family prefers to buy the white sugar at a nearby store. However, I understand this process is still used in several small towns in the countryside. I’m afraid these traditions will gradually disappear as progress creeps into the countryside. All of above snapshots were taken at Mi Pueblito in Panama City, Panama. Good Day.
There are many similarities here with the process of making maple syrup in our northeastern states. The sap from the sugar maple also is cooked in shallow pans, has impurities removed by skimming and so on.
On my first trip to Louisiana I look at fields and fields of a harvested crop I couldn’t recognize. It was sugar cane! And sometimes my varnish suffers if we have an east wind when they’re burning the cane fields.
Hello Linda:
Even though we live in different latitudes, there are always similarities between our diverse communities.
Louisiana and Florida are sugar cane states. Some of my friends have traveled to these two states to work at the sugar mills. Salaries are better there.
Thank you so much for reading and commenting at Lingua Franca. It’s a great honor to have you as a regular guest.
Regards,
Omar.-