THECUBAREVIEW 29 



In some dietary studies made under the auspices of this department mth a club of students 

 at the University of Maine, an investigation was made of the effect of supplying a Uberal 

 amount of maple sirup in a diet which contained an abundance of nutrients. The sirup was 

 evidently rehshed, and considerable amounts were eaten. However, there was not -a cor- 

 responding decrease in other foods; on the contrary, the amoimt of flour was in e.xcess of the 

 amount ordinarily consumed. It would seem that the maple sirup, and flour in the form of 

 griddlecakes, were consumed simply on account of their agreeable flavor. Provided the diet 

 contained sufficient nutrients in the first place, this increase was not desirable on the ground 

 of economy, and it may be questioned whether it was desirable from the standpoint of health. 

 When a similar comparison was made of the addition to the diet of liberal quantities of milk, 

 which has a much less distinctive flavor, there was a corresponding decrease in the amount of 

 other foods consumed. This would indicate that much of the sugar used is consumed for its 

 agreeable flavor and not because it is recognized as a food which is required to satisfy body 

 needs. 



FOOD VALUE OF TABLE SIRUPS AND MOLASSES 



Sirups of various kinds and molasses have always been used to a large extent in the United 

 States as articles of diet and for cookery. There are several forms in common use. Of these, 

 maple sirup, which is obtained by evaporating the sap of the sugar maple, commands the high- 

 est price. Cane sirup made from the expressed juice of the sugar cane is another important 

 sirup, as is also the sirup made from sorghum by methods very much like those used in the 

 manufacture of sirup from sugar cane. Very much used, too, are the homemade sirups ob- 

 tained by boiling sugar, either white or brown, with water. A little caramel made by burning 

 sugar in a frying pan and dissolving it in water may be added to the sirup to give both color 

 and flavor. Some housekeepers add a little vinegar to homemade sirup, which imparts a flavor 

 and inverts more or less of the sugar. Sometimes water in which several corncobs have been 

 boiled is used in making homemade sugar sirups, the cobs imparting a flavor which many relish 

 and which is said to suggest maple. In Europe a sirup called "whey honey" is made by boiling 

 down, with sugar, the whey drained from cottage (sour milk) cheese until it is thick as honey, 

 the proportions being 1 pound of sugar to a quart of whey. This has a pleasant and distinctire 

 flayer. 



An interesting example of the use of molasses in quantity is furnished by the negroes in 

 some regions of the Southern States. Dietary studies in the Black Belt of Alabama showed that 

 the diet was made up almost entirely of molasses, frequently homemade, corn meal, and fat 

 pork. 



The different grades of molasses obtained as by-products in the manufacture of sugar from 

 sugar cane have always been popular as table sirups and for cookery. Molasses produced by 

 the open-kettle process of boihng is the most highly appreciated, and for a long time was a 

 staple article for both purposes. Generally speaking, it can now be obtained only in the South- 

 ern States and there in small quantities only, since the modern process of sugar making has prac- 

 tically eliminated this open-kettle molasses from the market. To supply its place, the manu- 

 facture of sirup directly from the sugar cane and without the separation of any kind of sugar 

 has come to be practiced extensively in the South, particularly in Georgia, Florida, Alabama, 

 Mississippi and Louisiana. According to an early pubhcation of this department, "this sirup 

 forms a delicious, wholesome and valuable cohdimental food substance, the use of which is 

 rapidly extending; and because of its merits, it appears destined to become a very important 

 food." 



For some reason the public has come to judge sirup largely by its color. Many prefer a 

 dark product for cooking, partly because it colors the material with which it is mixed, and 

 partly because the dark color is still associated in theu- minds with the flavor of old-fashioned 

 molasses. For table use, however, a light-colored sirup is usually preferred. In this case, 

 the fact has apparently been overlooked that if properly manufactured good sirup must possess 

 some color, since in the evaporation of the sugar juice in an open kettle or pan a high tempera- 

 ture is employed, which causes an inversion of some of the sugar, and also has a tendency to 

 produce caramel which imparts a color to the sirup. Though a iight-colored sirup is popular, 

 a brown color does not mean that the sirup is not of good quality. 



