Sugar: Brazil’s 'gold'

With a long tradition of high per capita sugar consumption, Brazil ranks fifth as a sugar-consuming nation. In 2000, a little less than half of its cane production was ground for sugar. Today more sugar is produced in Brazil than anywhere else in the world.

The sugar legacy

The Portuguese settlers frequently intermarried with both the Indians and the African slaves, and there were also mixed marriages between the Africans and Indians. As a result, Brazil’s population is intermingled to a degree that is unseen elsewhere. Most Brazilians possess some combination of European, African, Amerindian, Asian, and Middle Eastern lineage, and this multiplicity of cultural legacies is a notable feature of current Brazilian culture.

Many of the sugar plantation owners lived in Olinda, where they had fine homes and were part of urban life. Most often, the actual running of the plantation was done by the New Christians and other Jews. In some cases, they were owners and had political, economical, and social influence on Brazil. Sometimes, these Jews were given the titles of nobility, but these positions were not hereditary because the sugar industry was quite unstable.

Joaquim Nabuco, the first Brazilian ambassador to the United States, was the son of a wealthy plantation owner, so he was no stranger to the system and the plantation life. He was also one for the campaigners who eventually brought an end to slavery.

Some of the religious orders that were centred in Olinda were supported by income from the sugar industry. A small plot of land in Olinda was donated by a wealthy local woman, but her donation of a much larger tract of land sustained the Franciscan monastery and their missionary work. The monastery still stands and, one of its chapels is especially ornate because it was largely financed by money from the sugar merchants.

There is even a culinary link to the sugar cane industry. Feijoada, the Brazilian national dish, was originally created by slaves who used the leftover parts - ears, feet, tail - of beef or pork animals, the better parts having been consumed by the managers and owners of the engenhos. Today’s feijoada still is served, even in the finest restaurants, with a choice of these different animals parts, along with the traditional black beans and rice.