Molasses flows into our sweet Southern heritage

Molasses qualifies as a Southern food because generations of North Carolinians have grown up slathering molasses on their home-made biscuits.

Coastal food writer Liz Biro pictures “thick ribbons of dark, smoky sweetness flowing over still-steaming butterscotch-colored biscuits.”

My wife, Sandy, grew up in Guilford County, N.C., near Greensboro, and she says a molasses and biscuits combo was considered dessert after the evening meal. (Cornbread crumbled into a glass of whole milk was the other option.)

“In the 1800s, molasses was North Carolina’s sweetener of choice,” Biro wrote. “It took the bitter edge off collards, made grits, cornbread and popcorn taste better, and molasses was mandatory for pie, especially molasses pie, the ancestor of pecan pie.”

Editors at Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, tell us: “Molasses is principally obtained from the refining of sugar cane juice. Molasses is rich in vitamins and minerals, including vitamin B6, iron, calcium, magnesium and potassium.”

Afton Cyrus, a culinary instructor based in Arlington, Mass., said: “The flavor of molasses can vary, and that’s mostly due to how it’s processed. Molasses is made by crushing up sugar cane, extracting the juice that’s released, then boiling that juice down until it forms sugar crystals.” 

“When the sugar crystals have been removed (to go on to be refined into different kinds of sugar), a thick, dark syrup remains, which is molasses. It generally comes in three varieties.”

 

“If you stop at the ‘first boil,’ you’ll have ‘light’ molasses, which has a delicate, sweet flavor,” Cyrus said. “If you boil the molasses down again, with a ‘second boil,’ you’ll create ‘dark’ molasses, which has a thicker texture and a less-sweet flavor than light molasses.”

 

“And if you boil the molasses down a third and final time, you’ll end up with ‘blackstrap molasses,’ which is ultra-dark, thick and more robust (toward bitter), as most of its sugar has been extracted during the boiling process.”

 

In August 1951, a novelty song named “Black Strap Molasses” made the “American hit parade.” 

Written by Carmine Ennis and Marilou Harrington, the snappy tune was recorded for Decca Records by “movie stars” Jimmy Durante, Danny Kaye, Groucho Marx and Jane Wyman. They were accompanied by a chorus and orchestra directed by arranger and producer Sonny Burke. The record reached No. 29 on the Billboard charts.

 

The lyrics referred specifically to the “Live Longer” diet advocated by Gayelord Hauser, who had gained fame and fortune as a nutrition guru to many Hollywood celebrities during this era.

 

He specifically promoted five “wonder foods” – blackstrap molasses, brewer’s yeast, skimmed milk, wheat germ and yogurt. Not all of them fit into the song, however.

 

Black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread

Makes you live so long you wish you were dead

You add some yogurt and you’ll be well fed

With black strap molasses and the wheat germ bread

 The lyrics also made mention of a popular elixir of the day – Hadacol – that was a patented vitamin supplement invented by Dudley LeBlanc, a Louisiana state legislator, and owner of the Happy Day Company.

 I gave up cherry pie and T-bone steak

Chicken fricassee and ice cream cake

I don’t need vitamins or pills at all

I even mix it with my Hadacol

Endorsed by celebrities, Hadacol’s popularity was traceable to its 12% alcohol content, which the label claimed to be a “preservative.”

In his advertising, LeBlanc claimed “the curative powers of Hadacol” could relieve “stomach disturbances, gas, heartburn, indigestion, nagging aches and pains and certain nervous disorders.” 

Additionally, he said Hadacol could rebuild “the pep, strength and energy of buoyant health.”

We’ll drink to that.