ROUSES.COM
39
Land Distilling, plans to offer both a traditional rum (made with
molasses) and a rhum agricole (a rarer style of rum produced from
cane juice). Both will be made from Louisiana cane refined at the
nearby Alma Plantation, the State’s northernmost sugar factory.
Rum distillers are not the only local artisans fermenting libations
from Louisiana sugarcane. Since 2009, Canebrake, the flagship
product of the Broussard-centered Parish Brewing Co., has risen
to become one of south Louisiana’s more popular microbrews. A
brisk wheat-style beer with citrusy and spicy notes, Canebrake’s
sweet kick of a backbeat comes courtesy of Steen’s Cane Syrup, the
bright-yellow logo-ed sweetener that hails from Abbeville.
If you still want to some quaff some Louisiana sugar-based
beverages, but without the alcohol, look to Swamp Pop, a brand
new line of premium sugarcane sodas out of Lafayette (and profiled
in last month’s issue of
My Rouses Everyday
). Swamp Pop cleverly
pairs locally-grown cane sugar (milled at the Louisiana Sugar
Refining in Reserve) into flavor combinations (satsuma, praline
cream, and ginger) familiar to any Louisiana sweet tooth.
To bring this recent sugar-renaissance full circle, it is becoming
increasingly difficult to ignore the role of locally-farmed cane in
our favorite drinks. From rum to cola, it is possible to drink up
Louisiana’s sugar culture.
Old Arabi Sugar Museum
by
LizWilliams, President &Director, Southern Food&BeverageMuseum
In October of this year the Office of Tourism of St. Bernard Parish
opened the Old Arabi Sugar Museum. The museum is located
in the Old Arabi Jail at 220 Hernandez St. in Arabi. It is open
Monday through Friday, spotlighting the history of the sugar
industry in the parish with maps, photographs, and artifacts that
tell the industry’s fascinating history. The exhibit, which features an
explanation of the refining process, was designed and curated by the
Southern Food and Beverage Museum. The refining process can be
seen on your smart phone at this address
Domino Sugar
by
Liz Williams
Arguably the largest sugar refinery in the Western Hemisphere,
the Domino Sugar Refinery in Arabi, Louisiana, has been
manufacturing sugar for over 100 years. The refinery was built over
several years in the early 20
th
century and opened in 1909. The
refinery was built on the Mississippi River to take advantage of river
traffic, but sugar distribution is a multi-modal operation today.
The facility produces more than seven million pounds of refined
sugar every day in a process that is much the same today as it was
100 years ago. It is a process that uses heat and mechanical processes
that take advantage of the properties of the sugar molecule, rather
than using chemicals to extract those crystals from the raw sugar
that it receives from sugar factories in Louisiana, Texas and Florida
and sometimes Mexico.
Domino was a leader in both rescue and evacuation after Hurricane
Katrina and in investing in and upgrading the facility quickly after
the storm. The plant was returned to service allowing workers to
return to work as soon as they could, helping to restore a sense of
normalcy to a flooded St. Bernard Parish.
The sugar industry is one of the most
lucrative agricultural industries in Louisiana,
surpassing other important industries such as
rice and cotton. And because of the Domino
Refinery, not only agricultural production,
but manufacturing can be centered in the
state, contributing to the economic health of
the region and the state.
Liz Williams at the Old Arabi Sugar Museum.
