SCENE 1
[In a whisper, voice over] Sugar.
SCENE 2GUEST: Deb Duchon, Nutritional Anthropologist
DEB DUCHON: Hi. ... anthropologist.
Truth is, she’s right. Americans consume about 80 pounds of sugar a piece a year. The World Health Organization has
concluded that sugar is not bad for you.
SCENE 3
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Immediately post harvest, the cane is fed to a 9,000 horsepower engine of destruction called a tandem which wrings smashes and chomps the great grass liberating its juice which at this point looks and smells more like Tijuana street run off than sugar. This juice is then percolated through lime and emerges as a murky syrup which is then filtered and boiled repeatedly until it becomes so concentrated that the raw sugar crystals fall out of solution. Bingo. We’ve got industrial grade sugar. |
Tandem (engine of destruction) cane juice lime + sediment clarified cane juice industrial sugar |
GUEST: Nick Rimedio, Plant Manager
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At the refinery this sugar is changed back and forth from solid to progressively concentrated liquid phases. Each of these phase changes removes further impurities until 99.9 percent sucrose remains. The final crystals are separated from the their mother liquid via centrifuge, just like your washer spin cycle, tumble dried, and then packed up and sent to a grateful world.
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final crystals centrifuge sugar dryer |
Table sugar is a disaccaride or
"double sugar" made up
of two "simple" sugars, glucose and fructose.
"The Candyman can." - Sammy Davis Jr.
GUEST: Shirley O. Corriher, Food Science Guru
| Candy making is
basically the manipulation of sucrose by heat. Taffy,
jawbreakers, fudge, divinity, butterscotch are all made possible by the
fact that between 230 and 350 degrees plain old table sugar, sucrose, goes
through more changes than a teenager during prom week.
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caramels 230° - 350° |
| Now besides simple syrup there are the traditional candy making stages which are named for how increasingly concentrated syrups react when dropped into ice water. There’s the thread stage, softball, firm ball, hard ball, soft crack and hard crack. Further up the thermometer you go the harder the resulting candy will be. That is until you get to where we are going today which is the far end of the thermometer where sucrose comes apart at the seams and sweetness gives way to an ever widening complex of flavors and aromas. | Ball Stages: the higher the temperature, the harder the candy |
Now sure all those cooler candy stages have there uses and we’ll get to those on another show. But today, we’re taking sucrose to the extreme, caramel.
"Sugar" comes form Sanskrit "sharkara" or "grit".
Now there are two ways to get where we’re going: dry method and a wet method. Now melting sugar by itself in a dry pan is simple, but its squirrelly to control and very easy to burn. The wet method, on the other hand, does have a twist or two in it, but in the end it’s a lot more controllable.
| Now the software is pretty darn basic just enough table sugar to come about a quarter the way up the side of the pan. I’ve got about two cups here. Just enough clean water to make it the consistency of wet sand. Now when in doubt go with two parts of sugar by weight to one part of H20 by weight in which case weight and volume are the same thing. | 2 cups Sugar (enough to come 1/4 - 1/3 up side of pan) wet sand 2 parts sugar to 1 part H20 |
| Now, besides your heaviest oven proof sauce pan hardware is going to include a clean spoon which is never going to touch this again, not for awhile at least, a clean pastry brush, a clean container full of clean water. Now, why all this concentration on "clean"? Well, it’s not so much about sanitation as it is about molecular contamination. But, more on that later. Now put this over high heat. |
heavy, oven
safe sauce pan |
Although not technically required, a candy
thermometer
does take the guesswork out of sugar cooking.
Once the sugar has dissolved acclimate the thermometer with a little hot water to prevent thermal shock then carefully clip it into the pan making the sure that the ball is submerged.
| Now go ahead and let the water boil. Why? Well, to get rid of it, of course. And, no stirring, no shaking, basically no touching this pan for about 200 degrees. | no stirring, shaking or agitating |
| Why? Well, because just when the sugar is prepared to yield its greatest treasures there’s danger of failure. It’s a small thing, really. But then of course the Chicago fire started small, too. In our case, the specter, crystallization. | crystallization
|
| Here’s what
happens. The pot’s now hot, water is boiling out leaving the
dissolved sugar behind. That creates a super-saturated
solution and it’s very volatile. If you were to just shake the pot
around or stir it or have any dirt or anything grimy in there or even if
you were to drop in one rogue crystal of sugar ... AB: [to stagehand off camera] Sugar. ... and the entire pot would go kaput. [drops a little bit of sugar in] Doooo’h. AB: [to stagehand off camera] Clamp. Rendering nothing but a big blob of crystals. Now, they don’t get this big that fast. This took about, oh, 5 weeks for me to grow in my kitchen. But you get the point. |
super-saturated solution big blob of crystals
|
Now, the culprit, as is usually the case, is molecules. Molecules are ... [sigh]. Now I’m not a geologist, I’m not a molecular chemist and I’m not a food scientist, but this, somebody needs to explain this.
AB: Shirley, explain yourself.
AB: How do we prevent this from happening?
|
SC: Well, you can be very careful and rinse down the sides and all of that. But, the easy way out is chemical: add a sugar that is similar but slightly different. |
non-sucrose sugar |
AB: Ahh.
SC: It’s molecule tries to hop in and it’s the wrong one and the crystal
says, "No, no, no." It won’t form.
AB: So if that one corner can’t form the whole crystal is kaput.
SC: The crystals won’t form. An impurity, another sugar that’s similar but
different is going to be perfect.
AB: What kind of thing are we talking about here?
| SC: Plain old corn syrup. Glucose. | corn syrup = glucose |
AB: Corn syrup. Just like that.
SC: Yes. Yes. Just like that. All you need is about a tablespoon and that ...
AB: In that whole pot.
SC: ... then that will prevent the whole pot from crystallizing.
AB: So what we’ve got is a situation where purity is backfiring on us and the
only way to fix it is with an impurity.
SC: Exactly.
AB: And a tablespoon will take care of my whole pot.
SC: That’s right.
AB: Thanks, Shirley. I love it.
| Now, if you find yourself victimized by crystallization do not despair. You don’t have to through out the whole pot. But, you will have to add the water back into the pot and dissolve the sugar again which is going to take a little bit of time. | add water |
| But take out a little insurance this time with a couple of teaspoons or a tablespoon of corn syrup. | add water + 1 Tbls Corn Syrup to pot and redissolve over high heat |
Acids like lemon juice vinegar or cream of
tartar can also prevent sugar crystallization.
| As the water cooks out of our pot of sugar it’s a good time to prepare for phase two: extra hardware. Two baking sheets turned upside down or any other level heat-proof platform and two pieces of parchment paper. Pretty mysterious, huh. | 2 inverted
baking sheets |
| Now, as we near the 300 degree line prepare to leave the world of sucrose behind. See, at 320 with all the water cooked away, the sucrose melts molecularly forming smaller sugars. One hundred and twenty eight of them to be correct. | at 320° the dissolved sucrose begins to melt how many? |
| Now just under 340 the substance that was sucrose has changed enough that the color actually turns from crystal clear to light gold. Then it moves on to amber then mahogany, beyond that lay black, which is definitely over caramelized. | 340°: New sugars form new color |
| Even without a thermometer you’ll know the big ‘c’ is coming. Take a look at this. Bubbles have slowed down and they’re stacking up on each other. That is a sure sign that the water is almost gone and the sugar is molten. |
bubbles slow and stack
|
Now without sugar around to provide a medium,
crystallization is no longer a danger so stirring or at least gentle agitation
is okay. In fact, as the sugar darkens in the pan it’s down right critical. See without some movement pockets of sugar will over heat and
burn before others even start to brown. So, gently rotate the pan to
even
out the heat. Carefully, please. Pastry chefs don’t call
this stuff "napalm" for nothing.
Now of course at this point you could stir in a couple of
handfuls of toasted almonds and spread it out on to a well greased cookie sheet,
about a quarter inch thick, let it set and you’d have almond brittle.
| Now once the sugar hits a true amber color around 340 degrees, remove it from the heat and let it cool down slowly. Just move your spoon back and forth through this lava flow. If you stir quickly you’ll work in air which will cloud the candy so go slow. | amber = 340° fast stirring = cloudy candy |
| And every few strokes stop and lift the spoon. Just let some of the sugar fall off. Now if it fall in drops the sugar is too hot to work with. Keep stirring and checking until it falls in a solid stream. | too hot |
| There, you see that continuous string. It’s like a solid piece of sugar all the way down into the pot. |
just right
|
| That’s what tells you that, uh, it’s Doodad time. | Doodad Time! |
Now what is a Doodad
exactly? Well, let’s just say
it’s a free form spirograph of candy. Now the idea is to create a string
of sugar and kind of pile it up on the paper using quick, tight wrist movements.
Now this is going to take a little playing with but playing
with food is fun. Heh, cost of a pound or two of sugar is a cheap price to pay
for impressing the heck out of the neighbors.
I usually go with tight, atomic circles or back-and-forth
cross-hatching. Just remember, the further you hold the spoon off the
paper the wider the pattern will be. Now see how that string stays
together? It’s exactly what we are looking for. And thinner is better.
Now
once you’re done playing Jackson Pollock, let these set for 10 or 15 minutes
then just peel the paper off the Doodad. As far as short term storage
goes, just stack these between sheets of wax paper and seal them in air tight
container of your choice. But, if it’s a humid day outside these candies
are going to go gummy within 24 hours, so don’t make more than you need. And the other thing is that, well, we need the rest of this sugar for
something else.
| Now, this sugar is due yet for more abuse, so back on the heat—medium high, that is. Now we’re headed to the one dessert sauce that can truly capture all the deep, dark complex flavors of nature on the edge of annihilation: caramel. | medium high heat |
| And it’s going to happen pretty quick. So, make sure that you’ve got a container of cold cream that equals in volume the amount of sugar you have. If you started with 2 cups of sugar and didn’t make Doodads then you’d have two cups of cream. Just kind of eyeball it. If you’ve got, you think, about a cup in there then a cup of cream. If you’ve got a little bit more sugar than cream that’s okay. | equal portions of heavy cream and melted sugar |
Now pushing sugar to the limit doesn’t take much skill. But nerves of steel are a plus, because basically you’re playing
chicken with the sugar. You see, you want it dark, really dark cause that’s
where the
roasty, toasty flavors are. But things are moving so fast now
that if you answer the phone, yell at the dog, see who’s at the door, stop to
take a picture of that UFO or brush that tarantula from your shoulder you could
end up with a pan load of carbon.
| Now it’s getting darker. Darker. But wait. Wait. Don’t look at the UFO. Wait. Then the instance you see wisps of smoke coming from the surface of the pot you go to action. Removing it from the heat and at arms length dumping in your cream. Whew. What a rush. | really, really hot!
|
| Now, put this back over medium-high heat and just let it boil—as if it has a choice—for about three minutes, stirring occasionally. In the end, you’re going to be rewarded with a bitter sweet sauce that, well, if given time would last for weeks. But, you know what? Odds are it won’t last that long. There you go. Just let it cook. Just like that. Now for those of you who are big brűlé fans here’s a way to even quicker sugar destruction. | return to medium high heat boil for 3 more minutes to stabilize sauce |
| Come to think
of it, it’s not too easy on bananas either.
[AB places the exposed quartered banana on top of of sugar to coat, then peels
the skin, he lays it down sugar-side up on a cooling rack] I picked this little one
up during metal shop in high school. It’s like medieval Bananas
Foster, with a twist.
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banana sugar safety glasses |
| Just move the torch flame back and forth across the sugar. You don’t want to stay in one place too long or you’ll burn straight through the banana and into the foil that you’ve hopefully placed underneath your rack. | <--------->
|
As soon as the sugar browns and bubbles it’s time to
move on. Now for the true test. [taps the bananas] Excellent. Of course it wouldn’t be right to make Bananas Brűlé without
making Bananas Brűlé Splits.
Now, Banana Split construction is serious business not to be
undertaken without a good foundation. Luckily we just made one, our
caramel sauce. Of course it’s been cooled down a little bit. Now,
just smear it right out on the plate. Now only will it create great sop-age
for later on but it will also provide a nice foundation for the bananas which
are the next step. Now, anybody who’s played with Lincoln Logs has
already got this down. Just lay them together two by two. And the sauce is
going to hold those together.
|
Now the next step is a good scoop of ice cream. Now we like the peach laced vanilla ice cream that we made in our show "Churn Baby Churn." You can get the recipe at www.foodtv.com. But any ice cream that you really like you can use. All you really need is one scoop right here in the middle. Perfect. Now, time for Le Doodad. The piece d’ resistance, a little filigree of gossamer love there. And I just usually lay it over, kind of like a little hat. Chapeau. |
Now, granted, this doesn’t look a whole lot like the
Banana Split of your youth. So, since you’re feeling nostalgic, we’ll
go just one of these [a cherry]. But you’ll have to figure out where to
put it. There you go.
The U.S. is the world's 4th largest sugar producer after Brazil, India & China.
GUEST: Dr. Emil Skarituth, Dental Disciplinarian
Ah. In a world rife with imitation desserts, this is a beacon of defiance, a towering tribute to the culinary power of sugar.
AB: Dr. Skarituth!
EMIL SKARITUTH: Now where have you been?. Now since you wouldn’t come to me, I must come
to thee.
AB: Well, you know I really did mean to make it by the office but with my schedule ...
ES: Listen you piehole{?}.. Now tell me, is it safe?
AB: To do what?
ES: I’m going to ask you one more time. Open. Is it safe?
[places dentist suction
tube
in AB's mouth]
AB: Tu duu whaa?
ES: To eat that dessert, you dope. Is it safe for your teeth?
AB: Well, ah dunnuuo.
ES: You didn’t think about your teeth, did ya?
AB: No, whaa rawag?
|
ES: That’s an excellent question. Now, ya see, the bacteria in plaque loves sugar. And the wee bugs can melt the sugar into acid. And the acid eats your teeth. Then you get cavities and have to do things like this. [in quick succession he shows AB a dentist's pick, locking pliers, a monkey wrench] |
not real tooth |
AB: AAAAAAAAA!
ES: Lucky for you, the amount of damage depends on how long the sugar stays on the teeth, not how much is consumed. That sugar
bomb you’ve got there will do less damage than cookie containing starch because the
starch holds sugar to the teeth like glue.
AB: Great news. Thanks for the info, doc.
Well, besides setting the cause of modern dentistry back
about, oh I don’t know, 300 hundred years, I hope that we’ve inspired you to re-ponder our favorite
dessert Citizen Cane sugar. Ha, ha. That’s a ... Hurmgh. All you really need is a
little sugar, a little heat and a little time to play.
AB: Can I go now?
ES: No. You’re not leaving until we floss. [winds
a course thick rope around his hands] Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
AB: Uuuuugh.
Last Edited on 08/27/2010
Freshly fallen snow. Tiny little amalgams of crystallized purity. But you
know, when the veneer of popular mythology melts away what are you left with? A
bucket full of acid rain laced with sulfuric compounds and, I don’t know, ozone
juice. Nope. If it’s crystalline purity you seek you’re going to have to park
Rosebud at the back door and head for the kitchen. Because it’s there between
the flour and the tea bags in a canister labeled sugar. That’s right. Nature’s most effective sweetness delivery device is also one of
the most potent and powerful of the players in the kitchen universe. I mean besides
its obvious accomplishments in the arenas of sweetening, flavor
enhancements,
preservation, fermentation, hydrolyzation and tenderization, sugar is just a
great ingredient all by itself. Add a little heat, a little water, a little
chemistry, amazing things will happen.
Now nobody really knows where or when man began to
crystallize sugar from the juice of
saccharum officinarum. But there are written records of producing
"honey without bees" along the banks of the Ganges river as early as
500 BC. Now at that time the refining process was still in its infancy and
nobody had really figured out how to remove the crystals from the dark, brown,
gooey molasses or the cane syrup that just wouldn’t crystallize. So
instead of looking
like the white, light snowy stuff that we think of as sugar, sugar looked like
this—big, dark, sticky loaves or cones. And to use it you just scrapped it off
with either a knife or a fork into the sugar bowl.
Now from India, the knowledge spread west to Persia but was
halted there by Arab merchants that saw sugar’s true potential. So they
tinkered around with the technology and finally perfected the production of
sugar. And, they monopolized its commerce moving it across the northern rim of
Africa and taking it with them into Spain when they took over. There they
kind of let it trickle into Europe at about $500 a spoon full until the
crusaders came into Spain, stole clippings, took it back to Brussels and London
desperate to get their own supply going and carried it to their new colonies in the Lesser Antilles and
the Caribbean where it eventually took over and spread across to Cuba and even
in to Southern Florida where we are today.
AB: Okay, Deb. Why all this fuss for some white powder?
to solar radiation.
For centuries, human engines in the form of slaves fed the
mills of Barbados and Martinique day and night. Up to 25 years ago the
machete was still the harvester’s tool of choice. Today, horsepower has
all but eradicated man power from the fields.
