Book of Days Tales

Today is the birthday (1819) of Sir Henry Tate, 1st Baronet, an English sugar merchant and philanthropist. Tate was born in White Coppice near Chorley Lancashire, the son of a Unitarian clergyman, the Reverend William Tate, and Agnes Booth.

When Tate was 13, he became a grocer’s apprentice in Liverpool. After a seven-year apprenticeship, he was able to set up his own shop. His business was successful, and grew to a chain of six stores by the time he was 35. In 1859 Tate became a partner in John Wright & Co. sugar refinery, selling his grocery business in 1861. By 1869, he had gained complete control of the company, and renamed it as Henry Tate & Sons. In 1872, he purchased the patent from German Eugen Langen for making sugar cubes, and in the same year built a new refinery in Liverpool. In 1877 he opened a refinery at Silvertown, London, which remains in production.

When Tate first started refining sugar there were 74 refineries in England, mostly family run businesses. It was the manufacture of sugar cubes that gave him the edge.  Around the same time Abraham Lyle opened his own refinery with a specialty in producing golden syrup.  The two men were bitter rivals all their lives.  But in 1921, when both men were long gone, the companies merged to become Tate and Lyle, one of the largest processors of sugar in the world. I always have Tate and Lyle golden syrup and black treacle on hand for recipes.

To honor Sir Henry I wanted to give you a recipe that is primarily sugar and not just one that has sugar in it (which would amount to millions). For me the best choice is nut brittle.  Peanut brittle is readily available packaged, but if you make your own you can get really creative.  You can use just about any nut imaginable – pecans, walnuts, pistachios, cashews, macadamias . . . Some, like Brazil nuts and walnuts, need to be chopped, of course. Furthermore you do not need to stick to one at a time; you can make mixtures of any you choose.  Time to be creative.

Nut Brittle

Ingredients

2 cups sugar
½ cup water
1 stick unsalted butter
2 tbsp light corn syrup
½ teaspoon baking soda
12 ounces roasted nuts
Fleur de sel or crushed Maldon sea salt

Instructions:

In a large saucepan, combine the sugar, water, butter and corn syrup and bring to a boil. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the caramel is light brown and registers 300°F/150°C on a candy thermometer. Remove from the heat and carefully stir in the baking soda. The mixture will bubble. Stir in the nuts, then immediately scrape the brittle on to a large rimmed, nonstick baking sheet. Using the back of a large spoon (oil it lightly if it sticks), spread the brittle into a thin, even layer. Sprinkle with salt. Let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Break the brittle into large shards.

The brittle can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 month.