You can find Madeira Wine Today in the Esperança bookshop downtown Funchal. It is one of the largest book shops in Europe,and opened in 1886.
The first inhabitants of Madeira had to figure out how to survive, and how to make money. And what the best crops are, given the volcanic soil and this particular climate. They started off with wheat, which was a failure. But bananas, sugar cane and grapes worked well. Through the ages, farmers switched crops, every time there was a problem with crop-diseases.
Sugarcane became a huge success. There was competition from Sicily, Morocco and Egypt, but the Madeiran quality was superior. Already in 1500, only 80 years after the discovery of the island, Madeira had become the largest producer and exporter of sugar in the world! There were around fifty ‘engenhos’ – sugar cane factories – on the island, altogether producing 1,2 million kg of sugar yearly. Cane sugar was named ‘ouro branco’– white gold, because it was extremely expensive, only to be sold to royal families, in cities like Antwerp, Constantinople, London and Venice.
Nice to know: @ is a symbol for an arobe, a conical pottery mould, containing 15 kg of sugar, used for transport.
Easy come, easy go, in the next decades Madeira was rapidly losing most of its export position. Portuguese compatriots planted sugarcane on a very large scale in Brazil, where the land is much easier to work on, and the yields are higher.
Nowadays, six sugarcane mills remain on the island. But their meaning changed completely, today they are entirely dedicated to the production of molasses, and high-quality rum. Molasses is a delicious black syrup, full of trace elements and vitamins, giving taste to sweet dishes such as the local ‘bolo de mel’. The sugarcane production campaign is from March till May. I strongly recommend visiting one of the ‘engenhos’, in that period, it is impressive. The ‘Engenhos do Norte’ is the only sugar cane mill in Europe that runs on a steam engine. A colossal machine of steal is pressing the sugarcane stems, meanwhile blowing steam tens of meters high in the air. Deeper into the factory, rum is produced, in column still, and the high-end rum in pot still.
Madeira rum is famous for its quality. It shows a wide range of aromas, such as dates, figs, raisins, tropical fruit, spices like cinnamon, and chocolate, hazelnuts, and more. When buying a Madeira rum with indication of age, I advise you to go for 12 years or older, then it starts to show its potential. Madeira rum is favourite amongst cigar aficionados. Butter and chocolate make great pairings. It is the basis of a classic grog, and ‘poncha’, originally a tempting Madeiran cocktail, made of rum, with honey and freshly squeezed lemon. Every spring, you can join the Madeira Rum festival.
Enjoy! A sua saúda.
You can find Madeira Wine Today in the Esperança bookshop downtown Funchal.
Jeroen Bronkhorst is author of ‘Madeira Wine Today’.
This book contains a chapter on sugarcane, sugar and rum.