Episode 208: Sugar and Sweets Around the World

A sweet tooth is a powerful thing! This week on A Taste of the Past, host Linda Pelaccio is exploring the vast array of sweets across the globe with Darra Goldstein, the Editor in Chief of “The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets.” As Linda and Darra point out, the “science of sweet” is only the beginning of a fascinating story, because it is not basic human need or simple biological impulse that prompts us to decorate elaborate wedding cakes, scoop ice cream into a cone, or drop sugar cubes into coffee. These are matters of culture and aesthetics, of history and society, and we might ask many other questions. Why do sweets feature so prominently in children’s literature? When was sugar called a spice? And how did chocolate evolve from an ancient drink to a modern candy bar? Tune in to this intriguing episode and check out the Facebook page! This program was brought to you by Bonnie Plants.

“The plants that tended to be bitter would be toxic, or likely… the entire verge of survival depended on the sweet.” [6:00]

“They are making a fabric now of lightly sweetened green tea… it’s meant to be worn!” [23:25]

“Frisbee actually originated with a pie tin.” [24:20]

—Darra Goldstein on A Taste of the Past

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