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Rambiling & Ruminating
There are many lesser traditions that are no longer with us. Most of them were rooted in our past when they were necessities and many also had social connections. Our ancestors would have participated in such things as barn-raisings and logrollings. A later generation might have participated in hogkillings, corn shuckings and quiltings. In more recent times a family might have gathered on the front porch shelling peas while family legends and stories were recited. While all of these events had a practical side to them in that they were necessary to perform the task at hand, they also had another important function. They also served as social gatherings. It gave people the opportunity to come together and visit a few times each year during a time when communities were scattered and travel was limited. Everyone brought lots of food and enjoyed dinner on the ground. Most such traditions and gatherings have gradually died out over the years for various reasons. Modern times and technologies have made most of them obsolete. Some of these old time events are still carried on in such places as the remote areas of the Appalachian Mountains. In our area they are most likely demonstrated at such events as folk-life festivals or Pioneer Days. One event, that used to be common, and was looked forward to throughout the South at this time of the year was cane syrup making. Cane syrup and sorghum syrup or molasses, were common staples in almost every household. During WWII, they were sometimes used as substitute sweeteners because refined sugar was rationed. In recent times the art of syrup making had almost died out, but it seems to be making a comeback in some areas of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi and Louisiana. Whether it’s from nostalgia or the desire for “The Real Thing,” I’m glad it’s back. For some people cane syrup is an acquired taste, but once they’ve got it, most find it hard to go back to that sugarwater from the grocery store. The late Oscar Allen from down at Rockville used to be well-known as a syrup maker in this area. I attended his last big cooking several years ago and it was a most enjoyable experience. There must have been 30 or 40 people there. Some were working, some were watching and the women were busy preparing food for dinner. Everyone was having a good time and eagerly looking forward to going home with a tin of fresh, warm syrup. There are only two or three people still making syrup in Clarke County these days. One of these gentlemen is Gaines Pezent in Jackson. Recently I had the pleasure of helping Mr. Gaines and his brother Charles, cook a couple of batches of genuine cane syrup at his place on Depot Road across from Boise. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and learned something in the process. The actual making of the syrup is not very difficult, but there are a few critical steps that if they are not done properly can ruin the whole batch. It begins with the harvesting of the cane by cutting it and stripping the leaves from the stalks. This is usually done before the first hard frost because freezing ruins the cane. The cane is now ready to have the juice extracted. The stalks are fed into a roller mill, which crushes them, and as the juice flows out it is strained through a piece of burlap into a barrel. At this stage it looks something like dirty dishwater, but is very sweet. These old mills used to be mule powered, but Mr. Pezents’ is driven by a mechanical mule that he made from two garden tillers. Once 40-50 gallons of juice has been collected it is transferred to the cooking vat or kettle, sometimes called an evaporator. A fire is lit under the pan and the boiling process begins. A light wood (lightard) fire is best because it burns very hot. The juice begins to boil in about 30 minutes and impurities begin to rise to the surface. These dregs must be skimmed off continuously during the entire cooking process to clean the syrup. The fire must be maintained so that the juice boils, but without overflowing. After about two or three hours the juice will have turned to a nice amber color and has thickened considerably. At this point the temperature is monitored until it reaches about 220-230 degrees. If the juice isn’t cooked long enough it will turn to sugar. The fire is then quickly extinguished and the syrup is taken up and strained two more times. The yield from the original 50 gallons of juice is about five gallons. The finished syrup is then bottled while it is still hot. There are several different varieties of sugar cane. Each one has its own distinctive flavor. Mr. Pezent complained that the cane he had this year was “pretty sorry”, but the two batches that were cooked with it were excellent in my opinion. As an old-timer once said, “It was so good that if you put some on your forehead, your tongue would slap your brains out trying to get to it!”
Whew! All this writing is making me hungry. Think I’ll go make a big stack of flapjacks and...........
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