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After undergoing a second caesarian_a chemical-filled procedure including anesthesia, intravenous antibiotics, and painkillers_I experienced a dramatic increase in my body's sensitivity. I was forced to radically change my diet and switch to shopping almost exclusively at health food stores. I decided to abandon certain foods I once loved, including white sugar, which is refined with many chemicals. Though I can tolerate white sugar in small doses, any amount over a certain threshold rendered me dizzy and spaced out for a couple of hours. Initially, I tried to wean myself from white sugar by cooking with honey, and I even became a beekeeper. Honey, in its natural, unadulterated form, is a nutritious sweetening agent for a variety of baked goods. But because it's a liquid, it can radically change the consistency of a batter. Then one day I saw a new product on the health food store shelves--a light brown granulated sweetener called Sucanat. Sucanat is the brainchild of a Swiss pediatrician, Dr. Max-Henri Beguin, who in the 1950s noticed that tooth decay was increasing at epidemic proportions among his patients. In his search for the cause of this health problem, Beguin came across the work of a Swiss dentist, Dr. Adolph Roos. His studies, which spanned several decades, confirmed that nineteenth-century Swiss villagers living in isolated mountain valleys had good, strong teeth. They ate wholesome, unrefined foods such as cheese, whole grains, fruits, and vegetables, which had been produced or grown on local soil. Tooth decay was unheard of. It was only after the villagers began to embrace modern culture and its products that tooth decay set in. Over the years, Beguin came to believe that the degradation of the food supply, in particular the "consumption of refined sugar and flours, which had been deprived of the mineral salts and vitamins contained in wholesome, natural products,'' was the main cause for the alarming rise in dental caries. Beguin was convinced that, if his patients could be provided with a complete unrefined sugar, tooth decay could be prevented. References to sweeteners produced by drying the juice squeezed from sugarcane had appeared in ancient Indian, Persian, and Chinese writings, but nowhere in the world could he locate a contemporary source of a high-quality, commercially available complete sugar. Refined white sucrose or white crystal sugar was king. But Dr. Beguin was convinced there was a better way of processing sugarcane, and after 15 years of research he came up with an innovative method that yielded a new product he called Sucanat. Sucanat, from Sugar Cane Natural, is made from fresh-cut, organically grown sugarcane. The juice is pressed from the cane, then concentrated into a thick, rich syrup that is dehydrated and milled into a powder. This method of processing retains the nutritious mineral salts (calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium), vitamins (A, C, B1, B2, B6), and trace elements (chromium, copper, zinc) found in the natural sugarcane. In 1993, I loved Sucanat so much and that after converting many of my family recipes to include it and creating distinctive new recipes specifically for the product, I approached Steven Snyder, the then-president of Sucanat North America Corporation with my manuscript. He loved it and encouraged me to publish it by placing an upfront order for several hundred copies. For three years, my cookbook was advertised on 2.2 and 4-lb. Sucanat cans. Although Sucanat was recently bought by Wholesome Foods and they have repackaged, you still order Ode to Sucanat from me directly. |
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To order, send a check or money order in U.S. dollars made payable to Mother Linda's for $5.50 for US customers or $6.00 for Canadian customers (which includes S& H ) to: Mother Linda's, P.O. Box 7, Bladensburg, MD 20710. I will also include my update. |
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Sample RecipesMother
Linda's Pecan Pie |
