I grew up enjoying dessert. I have a strong sweet tooth and have been known to raid the chocolate chips supply. To me one of the prime sources of sweets is baking. Pies, cakes, cookies, brownies, pastries, tarts, cobblers, crisps. Even fresh baked breads and rolls are something that I enjoy more than most other things. This weekend I made an "old-fashion pound cake" from the Lion House Cakes and Cupcakes cook book.
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My wife and I tried a slice each before serving it and remarked on how it wasn't a particularly sweet cake by itself. We served it, as recommended, with whipped cream and strawberries and black berries and enjoyed it much more. This got us thinking about the different types of cake and differences between richness and sweetness. From my own experience in Russia it seemed that there was a preference for richness than sweetness when it came to desserts. Russian cakes weren't as sweet as those I'd had in America. Russian food in general wasn't as sweet. I knew several locals who told me that they couldn't eat Snickers candy bars because they were too sweet. American food has been considered too sweet by others, many blaming high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as the reason. However, I think the sweetness was there prior to the corn syrup. HFCS got it's big break in the food industry when sugar took a tariff hit and increased in price making the HFCS more economical. It wasn't introduced to make food sweet but rather to replace what was already there.
Perhaps the reason that American food tends to be sweeter is because American's history has been heavenly influenced by sugar. Prior to the discovery of the New World sugar was scarce in Western Europe, a delicacy by all standards. Is is because sugarcane - the primary source of sugar with little competition until the sugar beet became a contender in the mid 1800s - requires particular growing conditions. According to Netafim a company who "has successfully cultivated sugarcane in diverse climates and growing conditions worldwide," states that sugarcane is grown world wide between 36.7 degrees N and 31.0 degrees south latitude and is essentially a tropical plant. For perspective, the countries of Spain, Sicily, Italy, mainland Greece, and Turkey are all located above the 36th parallel, were as the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina are all below the 36th parallel. While those states, with the exception of Florida, are not considered tropical, the Caribbean is. And turned out to be very good to grow sugarcane.
While the North American colonies, for the most part, did not actually produce sugar they were involved in the sugar trade. They grew a lot of the food that went to the sugar rich islands. Islands that were growing so much sugar they important their food because it was cheaper to buy food with sugar money than try to grow it themselves. Sugar was king. Due to proximity to the sugar rich Caribbean I suspect that it was easier to get sugar in the North American colonies than in Europe. Now, the mother countries would of course want to hoard the sugar, and its profits, as much as possible and as a luxury item not everyone could afford it, but it would be very easy for smugglers, privateers, pirates, and other such entrepreneurs to sell their forbidden cargoes in the colonies than sailing all the way back to Europe. We know that the colonies ultimately evolved an identity and decided to throw off the chains of their imperial masters forming the USA that we all know today. While a melting pot the colonies began to develop their own culture and consequently their own take on past traditions and customs. Including food. With an increased accessibility to sugar it is more than possible that they fortified their native dishes with it.
While, "American as apple pie" is not strictly true - apple pies are not native to the USA - comparing various apple pie and apple pie analogs does show some possible evidence for my hypothesis. I've found receipts for "Real Dutch Apple Pie," a French apple tart, a apple pie that looks lot like what Russians make, and an "American" apple pie. The Dutch receipt has the most sugar overall, with 250 grams, but that includes 180 g. for the pastry and 70 g. for the filling. The American pie has 1 cup (1/2 cup white + 1/2 cup brown sugar) which is just over 236 g a difference of about 1.5 teaspoons. However, the American receipt does not include the pastry for the pie, just the filling. Between the American and the Russian apple pies the difference was about 2 tablespoons and a 1/4 of a cup compared to the French apple tart. Again, both the French and Russian receipts include the pastry. Not concrete proof, but interesting. Personally I like them all. Just don't be a little surprised if I put ice cream or whipped cream on any and all of them.
My wife and I tried a slice each before serving it and remarked on how it wasn't a particularly sweet cake by itself. We served it, as recommended, with whipped cream and strawberries and black berries and enjoyed it much more. This got us thinking about the different types of cake and differences between richness and sweetness. From my own experience in Russia it seemed that there was a preference for richness than sweetness when it came to desserts. Russian cakes weren't as sweet as those I'd had in America. Russian food in general wasn't as sweet. I knew several locals who told me that they couldn't eat Snickers candy bars because they were too sweet. American food has been considered too sweet by others, many blaming high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as the reason. However, I think the sweetness was there prior to the corn syrup. HFCS got it's big break in the food industry when sugar took a tariff hit and increased in price making the HFCS more economical. It wasn't introduced to make food sweet but rather to replace what was already there.
Perhaps the reason that American food tends to be sweeter is because American's history has been heavenly influenced by sugar. Prior to the discovery of the New World sugar was scarce in Western Europe, a delicacy by all standards. Is is because sugarcane - the primary source of sugar with little competition until the sugar beet became a contender in the mid 1800s - requires particular growing conditions. According to Netafim a company who "has successfully cultivated sugarcane in diverse climates and growing conditions worldwide," states that sugarcane is grown world wide between 36.7 degrees N and 31.0 degrees south latitude and is essentially a tropical plant. For perspective, the countries of Spain, Sicily, Italy, mainland Greece, and Turkey are all located above the 36th parallel, were as the states of Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and South Carolina are all below the 36th parallel. While those states, with the exception of Florida, are not considered tropical, the Caribbean is. And turned out to be very good to grow sugarcane.
While the North American colonies, for the most part, did not actually produce sugar they were involved in the sugar trade. They grew a lot of the food that went to the sugar rich islands. Islands that were growing so much sugar they important their food because it was cheaper to buy food with sugar money than try to grow it themselves. Sugar was king. Due to proximity to the sugar rich Caribbean I suspect that it was easier to get sugar in the North American colonies than in Europe. Now, the mother countries would of course want to hoard the sugar, and its profits, as much as possible and as a luxury item not everyone could afford it, but it would be very easy for smugglers, privateers, pirates, and other such entrepreneurs to sell their forbidden cargoes in the colonies than sailing all the way back to Europe. We know that the colonies ultimately evolved an identity and decided to throw off the chains of their imperial masters forming the USA that we all know today. While a melting pot the colonies began to develop their own culture and consequently their own take on past traditions and customs. Including food. With an increased accessibility to sugar it is more than possible that they fortified their native dishes with it.
While, "American as apple pie" is not strictly true - apple pies are not native to the USA - comparing various apple pie and apple pie analogs does show some possible evidence for my hypothesis. I've found receipts for "Real Dutch Apple Pie," a French apple tart, a apple pie that looks lot like what Russians make, and an "American" apple pie. The Dutch receipt has the most sugar overall, with 250 grams, but that includes 180 g. for the pastry and 70 g. for the filling. The American pie has 1 cup (1/2 cup white + 1/2 cup brown sugar) which is just over 236 g a difference of about 1.5 teaspoons. However, the American receipt does not include the pastry for the pie, just the filling. Between the American and the Russian apple pies the difference was about 2 tablespoons and a 1/4 of a cup compared to the French apple tart. Again, both the French and Russian receipts include the pastry. Not concrete proof, but interesting. Personally I like them all. Just don't be a little surprised if I put ice cream or whipped cream on any and all of them.
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