Non-refined sweeteners
By Raúl Reyes
@karibe (689)
Venezuela
April 7, 2019 7:37am CST
In Venezuela, as in other neighboring countries of South America, there is, in addition to sugar, honey and other alternatives not refined to sweeten: 'panela' and 'papelón', also known by other names.
'Panela' and 'papelón' are made from sugarcane juice that dries before going through the purification process that turns it into brown or mashed sugar
I was motivated to publish this discussion the discussion of Simone @Janet357 where he tackles the topic of drinking lemon juice in the morning for the benefit of our kidneys.
Simone says that since she does not have honey, she drinks the lemon juice without sugar. Talking with her I commented that as a substitute for honey Venezuelans, Colombians and Ecuadorians, we have 'panela' and 'papelón', sweeteners that in Venezuela are cheaper than sugar, and that with them we prepare our lemonade or paper with lemon, typical drink also known as 'aguapanela' and 'aguadulce', which we drink cold or hot.
Do you know the panela and the papelón? Have you sweetened your lemonade or other drinks with these unrefined products of sugarcane?
Note: The photos that make up the collage that illustrates this discussion were taken by me.
2 people like this
2 responses
@mynameiskate (2562)
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7 Apr 19
I've never tasted or tried panela or papelon. Is it as natural as the sugars in fruit do you know? Even pure milk has sugars so I've read.
1 person likes this
@mynameiskate (2562)
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8 Apr 19
@karibe Sugars from what I understand is something our body can use if not over consumed. It is the refining process that might not be the best for us. I make beans with brown sugar so it might work well with them.
@Janet357 (75656)
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8 Apr 19
Thank you for this Raul. We have it here and it comes in one huge round thing or powder. They are more expensive than the refined sugar thats because they have the essential minerals pur body needs-the thing that refined sugar does not have,
I stopped buying honey because fake honey is spread everywhere. And i know that bee farms are quite limited here. There was a time i bought a brand which was imported from australia but i read several reviews about it. So since then, i have not bought any commercial honey
