Cooking sugar in Mamluk Egypt

Document Type : Original Article

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Abstract

in it sugar cooking was studied in Mamluk Egypt and was divided into:
(1) kitchens and sugar refineries: as the sugar refineries in the Mamluk era had a great place for the production of large amounts of sugar and some contemporary modernists such as IbnDaqmaqmentioned to many contemporary and sugar kitchens, as described through the description of the Sultan Al-Muayadrefinery  in Bulaq, He also mentioned the Rnok, which the Mamluks were keen to put on the kitchens and sugar refineries and the prices of the sale of some of the refineries  and sugar kitchens, and how the price dropped at the end of the Mamluk era because of the monopoly policy adopted by the sultans, which made the owners of refineries and  kitchens suffer a lot , so they sold them cheaply.
(2) The phases of sugar cooking: The sugar cooking passed through six phaseswhich were applied in all refineries and kitchens during the Mamluk era. The first stage was the transfer of sugar cane sticks to the reed house and cleaning it, the second phase,the reeds were transferred after cleaning to the house of the nob and cutting the canes into small pieces. in the third phase the cane cut was pressed ,in  the fourth phase the reed and reed sab is filtered , and in the fifth phase juice is cookedon fire, and in the sixth phase sugar is refined to reach the bleach .
(3) workers and employees supervision of sugar: the workers and employees supervision of sugar and its kitchens ranged from the presser , the  cook to the head of the sugar kitchens, and El Mohtaseb who controlled  and watched the cooking sugar and shared in it marketing  and watched the owners of the crafts that were based on sugar like patisseries and sweet drinkers and the seller of medicines, and watched drink workers ( khanah) was drunk shad ( khanah) and the beneficiaries ( khanah) and the salaries of sugar and candy, and these workers had a public servant known as Astadar, who was responsible for the sultanihouses and the need for sugar and others.

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