On food and cooking the science and lore of the kitchen ( PDFDrive ) 1223

Gathering honey in prehistoric times. This
rock painting, found in the Spider Cave at
Valencia,Spain,datesbacktoabout8000 BCE
and appears to show two people raiding a
wild beehive. The leader (enlarged at right)
may be carrying a basket for the honeycomb.
Artificialhivesandthedomesticationofbees
are known from about 2500 BCE in Egypt.
(Redrawn from H. Ransome, The Sacred Bee,
1937.)
TheHistoryofSugars
andConfectionery

BeforeSugar:Honey


Aftermother’smilk,thefirstsignificant
sourceofsweetnessinhumanexperience
musthavebeenfruits.Somewarm-climate
fruitslikethedatecanapproachasugar
contentof60%,andeventemperatefruits
becomeverysweetwhentheydryout.Butthe
mostconcentratednaturalsourceofsweetness
ishoney,thestoredfoodofcertainspeciesof
bees,whichreaches80%sugars.It’sclear
fromaremarkablepaintingintheSpiderCave
ofValenciathathumanshavegoneoutof
theirwaytocollecthoneyforatleast10,000
years.The“domestication”ofbeesprobably
goesback4,000years,judgingbyEgyptian
hieroglyphsthatshowclayhives.

Howeverourancestorsobtainedit,honey
cametorepresentpleasureandfulfillmentto
them,andisaprominentmetaphorinsomeof
theearliestliteratureweknow.Alovepoem
inscribed4,000yearsagoonaSumerianclay
tabletdescribesabridegroomas
“honeysweet,”thebride’scaressas“more