The panela arrived taking its first steps to Spain through product stores. latin americans, making the big leap overnight when it became popular as an alternative to refined white sugar. Its moment of glory has passed, and although it still wants to be sold as sweetener with supposed properties, it has been assimilated in our country as just another common pantry product.
As we already saw when reviewing the different types of sugars that we can find on the market, panela is still precisely that, a sugar, a carbohydrate and, more specifically, a disaccharide, made up mainly of sucrose. And, although it does present nutritional differences compared to white table sugar, these are minimal, and for health purposes they are considered the same, recommending a very moderate consumption and occasional.
The differences are more interesting organoleptic of this natural sweetener, as well as its preparation and applications, closely linked to different cultures and traditions. It all begins with the same protagonist, the one who revolutionized world cuisine when a lucrative industry developed around him: sugar cane. But let’s start with the basics.
What is panela
Commonly known in Spain as panela, this product nevertheless receives a multitude of names and nicknames linked to disparate countries and cultures. Piloncillo, rapadura, scrape, papelónchancaca, panocha, cane honey tablet, sweet seeds or sweet bundle are some of its most widespread names in Latin American countries, to which are added jaggery and gur in countries like India or Pakistan.
It is about juice extracted from sugar cane without refining or centrifuging, which is cooked and solidifies to form compact and hard granulated blocks, of an earthy brown, slightly golden or more or less dark cinnamon color, depending on the variety.
Traditionally it is presented in sayings blocks with a conical shape, prism, brick, cube or large, compact and heavy tablets, which are broken or grated for use, and can be dissolved in liquids or mixed with other ingredients to make doughs and other essentially sweet preparations. Given its hardness, today it is also marketed granulatedas if it were ordinary sugar, but with a finer texture, like grit.
As elaborated
Although the process has been slightly modernized by introducing mechanization, the preparation of rapadura is still very rudimentary and traditional, constituting an important part of the local economy, generating thousands of jobs. This is what happens in Colombiathe second largest producer and first consumer of this sugar in the world.
With more than 20,000 mills -name given to the production centers- throughout the country, the majority are concentrated in the department of Valle del Cauca Occidental, with coffee plantations coexisting with those of sugar cane.
These canes are mostly collected by hand and taken directly with donkeys to the mills, where large mechanical rollers crush the plant to extract the sweet juice and separate the pulp. From there it goes to a large oven where those juices are cooked, caramelize and reduce, creating a kind of thick syrup or golden-colored molasses. It goes through different pots depending on the degree of cooking, until the entire process is finished after having reduced by more than half of its initial volume, acquiring a darker color and a much denser texture.
After cooking, these syrups are passed to a cooling tray where they become wet crystals, which are then transferred to other trays where workers, with wooden shovels, break and scrape them. Finally, it is kneaded and flattened to give it consistency and eliminate possible air bubbles, forming the desired panela pieces with molds. These are unmolded onto large wooden tables lined with paper and left to dry.
Once hardened, the panela blocks are ready to be packaged and labeled, and prepared to go on sale. The panela that is sold granulated is simply passed through a type of blender instead of being molded.
In summary, rapadura is made by extracting the juice of sugar cane, which is cooked to evaporate the water and concentrate its sugars, giving it a thick reduced texture which crystallizes and is molded to taste before drying and completely solidifying.
Origin and current production
Sugar cane is native to Southeast Asia and it is estimated that its domestication occurred in the current area of the tropical india about 5,000 years ago. The invention or discovery of the process to produce sugar from this vegetable also occurred in Indian lands, a few years ago. 2,000 yearsimproving the process in subsequent centuries and later allowing its refinement to also obtain white sugar.
The cultivation of sugar cane spread halfway around the world in medieval Europe, reaching America with the help of settlers who were looking for suitable land for its development. So, from the 17th century Both the cultivation and production of cane sugar spread in tropical america and the West Indies, becoming increasingly popular in different countries and cultures, giving rise to its own uses and customs.
Latin America continued and continues to be a large producer and exporter of cane sugar to the European market, although at the local level in many regions they consume more the unrefined version, panela, rapadura or piloncillo. As we have mentioned, Colombia is the second world producer of panela, after the Indiaand the one with the highest consumption per inhabitant.
Nutritional properties
HE attribute many supposed healthy properties to panela, even promoting itself as a superfood that stands out for being “natural”; In India it is also associated with ancient medicine and Ayurveda linked to certain yoga practices.
However, the evidence and scientific consensus are very different and clear: panela or rapadura it’s sugarand its consumption must be very moderate and occasional, within a healthy lifestyle with a balanced diet. It is not a healthy alternative to sugar, it is just another form of free sugar.
Being an unrefined product, panela does retain part of the micronutrients from sugar cane, mainly minerals such as potassium, iron and calcium, and vitamins C and group B. But they are such minute quantities that they should not be the source of intake of these nutrients.
With slightly fewer calories than white sugar, between 350-380 compared to white’s 400 kcal per 100), it is mainly composed of sucrose, glucose and fructose -sugars-, with 90% carbohydrates in the form of sugars with a high glycemic index. Therefore, it is recommended to limit its consumption like table sugar, honey or any syrup.
The World Health Organization recommends reducing the consumption of free sugars to 5% of daily calories, which is equivalent to about 25 g of sugars in an average healthy adult.
How to use panela in the kitchen
Moving on to its culinary qualities, panela does provide a wide range of nuances of aroma, flavor and texture that are very different from white sugar and also different from other sugars such as brown sugar or honey. It depends on each manufacturer, but in general we find caramelized touchestoasted, fruity and slightly smoked. In addition, it sweetens a little less than refined sugar, so the resulting sweets are not as cloying, and it is more suitable for savory recipes, such as marinades, chutneys and sauces.
The solid piloncillo in blocks or pyramids can be scrape or grate directly with a good grater or using a good knife, but if it is very hard it is more advisable break it into pieces which can be ground or crushed with a powerful grinder with sharp blades. If it is heated for a few seconds in the microwaveit becomes softer and is easier to grate and shell.
In many Latin countries it is used to prepare typical drinks such as aguapanela or panela water, papelón or aguamiel, which usually consists of simple water with dissolved panela and lemon or lime, hot or cold. It is also used in Mexico to sweeten pot coffee and it is very common for it to be used in the champurrado or Mexican hot chocolate.
For his caramelized aromatic intensity It is a sugar that combines very well with spices typical of autumn, winter and Christmas sweets, such as gingerbread cookies, and also adds a touch of humidity to the dough that makes the sponge cakes more juicy and the cookies more tender, also giving them a more toasted color.
It is not a good idea to replace all the white sugar in a recipe with panela without risking completely changing the texture, although it is all a matter of experimenting. Yes it usually works better and without problems like alternative to brown sugar refined or muscovado, and almost always enriches darker sweets and masses such as those that contain molasses, chocolate, cocoa, coffee or rye.
As for salty dishes, used in moderation, it is a fantastic ingredient if we use it almost like a spice in Powerful stews and intense sauces or spicy, such as chili, legume dishes, meat marinades, curries, etc.
We crush the muesli with a kitchen rolling pin or a grinder. In a bowl we mix the whole wheat flour, with the salt, the muesli and the yeast. Separately, we beat the butter with the panela and vanilla.
We mix with a fork or whisk until it forms a cream. We add the dry ingredients, and mix until we have a sandy dough, add the milk and compact with our hands. We wrap the dough in plastic wrap and let it rest for half an hour in the refrigerator.
Then we spread it between two baking papers with a thickness of half a centimeter. We cut the dough with a cutter to our liking and place the cookies on a baking tray.
We preheat the oven to 180ºC and bake the cookies for about 15 minutes. Once out of the oven, we remove the cookies from the tray and let them cool on a rack.
Complete recipe | Whole grain muesli and panela cookies
Panela in Block – 454 g – Rich in Vitamins and Minerals – Helps Improve Your Physical Performance – Whole Unrefined Cane Sugar – Ideal for Baking – Latin Gourmet
*Some prices may have changed since the last review
Photos | iStock/Luis Echeverri Urrea – Juan Jose Tamayo Perez – Marco Verch – Leslie Seaton – Ives Picq – Dennis Noel López – Photoexpo
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