a sugar obtained by boiling down the sap of the sweet/black birch tree, Betula lenta, and other species in the genus.
Birch sugar is considerably less sweet than maple sugar (see maple syrup) and the sap from which it comes is not available until about a month after the maple sap is running. Medsger (1972) notes that the inner bark of the black birch has a sweet, spicy wintergreen flavour and was generally eaten by boys. He further notes:
It is claimed that in 1861, after the Battle of Carricks Ford, the edible bark of Black Birch probably saved the lives of hundreds of Garnett's Confederate soldiers during their retreat over the mountains to Monterey, Virginia. For a number of years after that, the route the soldiers took could be traced by the peeled birch trees.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
Medsger, Oliver Perry (1972), Edible Wild Plants, New York: Collier Macmillan.
