The Bitter Cauldron
Sweet Taste Forged in Fire: Barbados Sugar-Boiling Legacy In 18th-century Barbados, cane sugar production relied on cast-iron syrup kettles, a method later on adopted in the American South. Sugarcane was crushed utilizing wind and animal-powered mills. The extracted juice was warmed, clarified, and evaporated in a series of pots of reducing size to produce crystallized sugar. The Sweet Country: Barbados Sugar Economy. Barbados, typically called the "Gem of the Caribbean," owes much of its historical prominence to one product: sugar. This golden crop changed the island from a small colonial outpost into a powerhouse of the worldwide economy throughout the 17th and 18th centuries. Yet, the sweet success of sugar was built on a foundation of enslaved labour, a fact that casts a shadow over its tradition. Boiling Sugar: A Grueling Job Producing sugar in the days of colonial slavery was a perilous procedure. After gathering and squashing the sugarcane, its juice was boiled in en...