Crossing Continents

The modern magic of Google shows me that this is roughly the colour of the Demerara river as it joins the Atlantic at Georgetown, Guyana on the north coast of South America. Dutch colonists derived the name from a local language; the British kept it when they took over the land early in the 19th century. It was a slave colony, producing sugar on plantations. A slave rebellion there, and its bloody retribution, was one of the triggers for British abolition

Sugar was (and still is) one of the most political of crops. Britain had Trump-style tariffs to ensure that the refining industry was protected. Partially refined sugar was exempt from tariff, so most imports took this form and were referred to by the (corrupted) Portuguese name 'muscovado', meaning 'unrefined'. A new 'vacuum pan' refining technology was developed in the Demerara colony, and a new, intermediate tariff had to be negotiated for this new, more refined, product. It became fashionable to use 'Demerara sugar' in its unmodified state in London coffee houses, and a brand was born

If I wrote that much about all the ingredients, we would be here for a while, but many of them are just as interesting. What about The Levant Company and The Turkey Company - established by Elizabeth I to mediate trade with the Ottoman empire - which made a fortune in particular from the import of dried fruit, and was the precursor to the much more famous, and notorious, East India Company? 

Or Gabriel Hugon, the French man living in Manchester, who saw how hard his wife was working, cutting up fat in their kitchen, and set up a company to sell pre-shredded suet. Suet is the hard fat around the kidneys of cattle (and sheep), so he drew on his knowledge of Spannish (perhaps he was Basque) and called his company Atora, from 'toro'. Smart at marketing, he even delivered the product with ox carts! Our suet is made from processed sunflower and sustainable palm oils, but it is still Atora

The full list, in no particular order, with all the magical countries of origin, as far as I can determine... 

1. Sultanas - South Africa
2. Apricots - Turkey (so the Ottoman trade endures!) 
3. Raisins - Chile
4. Currants - South Africa
5. Demarara sugar - not clear, but it's 'fair trade', so hopefully a developing economy
6. Vegetarian Suet - palm oil, probably Indonesia or Malaysia; sunflower oil, let's hope it's Ukraine
7. Mixed, candied orange/lemon peel - unknown
8. Lemons - Spain
9. Oranges - probably Spain, maybe South Africa or Egypt 
10. Cloves - (the dried buds of a myrtle tree), probably Indonesia or Madagascar 
11. Mace - (the same plant as nutmeg, similar flavour and probably similar hallucinogenic properties), probably India, Indonesia or Guatemala 
12. Ginger - probably India or Nigeria, possibly China 
13. Almonds - USA (California, I guess; pity the poor bees) 
14. Hazel nuts - our own 2023 harvest: Warwickshire
15. Apples - our own Bramley's Seedling: Oxfordshire
16. Napoleon Brandy - France! Santé Gabriel!