Sunday, March 22, 2009
Restaurants Sugar: it's so natural and sweet
Posted by Cliff Bostock @cliffbostock on Sun, Mar 22, 2009 at 2:26 AM
The New York Times reports that sugar is making a comeback, now that high-fructose corn syrup has been branded the slime of Beelzebub. It's all about perception:
Sugar’s comeback is not entirely a backlash against the corn sweetener. Market researchers say that with the economy so unsettled, people want to control what they can. Choosing organic, less processed or so-called natural foods is a relatively inexpensive way to do that.“Rightly or wrongly, that means consumers are more attracted to sugar,” said Kevin Higar, senior manager at Technomics, a market research company.
Chefs and connoisseurs have also driven sugar’s rehabilitation. Although even a sugar expert would be hard pressed to tell the difference between the taste of cane and beet sugar, some enthusiasts have elevated cane sugar to near cult status.
I well remember back in the '70s, before high fuctose corn syrup was invented, a spate of books on the many evils of sugar. It won't be long before all of those are back in print.
(Image of Day of the Dead sugar skull from about.com)
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