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L’aventure du sucre (The Sugar Adventure) Mauritius

The sugar adventure recalls the history of sugar in Mauritius. Sugar has been a major money earner for the island for two centuries and is thus considered as a vital part of the Mauritian cultural heritage. With the diversification of the economy, sugar has lost its place as basic pillar of the economy (sugar is mostly produced for self sufficiency now) but to capture its importance on the island throughout all these serving years, the Beau Plan Sugar Estate, which was a former sugar factory, has been turned into a sugar museum.

The museum is set in modern styles over a space of 5,000 m². It takes the visitor back into time as from when the island was first discovered, the early cultivation of sugarcane, the role of the slaves in growing this vital plant on the island, the commercial exchange of sugar throughout the world, the different faces of sugar in history and the different technologies used for its manufacture. The machineries (vats, pipes) used in sugar production all looking gigantic and well kept can be seen inside the museum; there is also a barge (vessel where sugar is manually stacked for transport) that was used to transport sugar from the island to Madagascar. Interestingly, two locomotives that were used to carry sugar from place to place are also exposed: the “Mon Loisir” locomotive is displayed inside the museum while the “Sir William” train welcomes people on the outside of the museum. In the gardens of the premises there is a restaurant in a beautiful setting called Le Fangourin. It proposes delightful Creole cuisine ranging from seafood to venison to light meals and salads; the restaurant also proposes meals for weddings and parties as per the clients’ tastes. There is also an auditorium for seminars and business meetings with air conditioning and all types of multimedia tools needed. L’aventure du Sucre regularly holds expositions such as the “feeding mankind” exhibition where materials related to foodstuff from France were exposed. Before leaving the area, there is a definite must to swing by the wonderful boutique where souvenirs like rums, books, marmalade, fruit pastes and packed sugar gifts can be bought!

History of the place

Rising above the sea of green sugar cane fields, like a great ship at anchor, the old Beau Plan sugar mill, relinquishes her role of history-maker for that of history-teller

A tour of a sugar factory in the midst of a culture

Initially, an ancient forge, then an "indigo manufactory" in the 18th century, the Beau Plan sugar factory was converted into a museum dedicated to sugar along with its universe until 1999. It goes back over the epic of this commodity which has steeped the History of Mauritius through the "aventure du sucre."

Darkness in the beginning. Then, the land along with the fauna and fauna crop up. Followed by men...and the sugar. Thus, starts the history and the tour along a dark corridor where three projections on the genesis of Mauritius and its population are represented.

The ante-room opens onto a huge gallery housing a stunning collection of sugar cane products. A mountain of brown sugar, a craft is preparing to load the "gonis" or jute bag, and barrels of rum, an old engine - that whistles - giant vats and a multitude of machineries and steel pipes. A brown sugar aroma can be smelled.

The exhibition hall covers a surface area of 5000m2. It is like a maze where one is devoured, whilst allowing oneself to be guided by the signs and indications. One can spot dreadful machineries and frightening gears and in the background, a reconstituted shining oven across the maze. Hence the museography whispers the different steps of the sugar; plantation and grinding of sugar cane to extract its juice and crystallization of the product.

Being one of the economics' cornerstones of the country, sugar has profoundly marked its history and remains connected with its culture and population. The exhibition reminds us of the landing of the settlers, the tragic slavery trade, the privateers' epics, and the arrival of the "coolies" - indentured labourers - to recent news and a more contemporary history. The tour consists of 11 relaxing as much as educational steps. Besides, the huge vats and engines, witness of these fabulous histories, sign boards, albums, videos, sound-effects, models, lighting console and interactive CD arouse ones senses and invite ones to take part in the adventure. As for the game - the train whistles when the correct answer is given. The tour lasts at least an hour. However, to visit the exhibition - including the temporary facilities - in its least details can take more than two hours. The site also boasts a shop with exclusive sugar products and a restaurant offering a Creole cuisine and a Mauritian gastronomy.

Sugar cane festival

Beau Plan sugar factory will be highlighted during the sugar cane festival which will be held from the 2nd to 5th August 2007. Several other professionals will be present to make presentations during this event that is devoted to sugar cane and its products. The machineries will start to operate again. A few artisans using the sugar cane as a raw material will be featured. The confectioners will make a few preparations on the spot. Various workshops for kids and adults will also be featured. There is not only the dodo that is endemic to Mauritius. The "soft light-brown" is a type of sugar which is exclusively produced in Mauritius. It's a top quality product which is found in the cuisines and gourmets restaurants in the world. As its name indicates, this sugar that is lightly brown is a delicacy that softens and melts in the mouth. A pure delight. It is exclusively available along with other ten or so fine sugar at the "Village boutik" in l'aventure du sucre.

An incomparable site

Pamplemousses district is one of the oldest in the island. It is where Governor La Bourdonnais built his dwelling, where Pierre Poivre first dreamt of his garden, and where, in the churchyard, Bernardin de Saint-Pierre chose the final resting place for Paul and Virginie. To this day one can stroll in the village, and observe the quiet everyday life there.

L’Aventure du Sucre

Our adventure starts right here—behind the façade of the factory building—with tales woven around the life story of sugar, for long the main product and activity on the island. Here will be found the roots of our people, going back five centuries, and the history of the island itself, and its varied cultures. It will be a reflection of our own society, a mirror in which we shall see ourselves and which we shall offer to the visitor so that he too may try to know us.

There are more ways than one to translate our intentions. One could say that the actual production of sugar is but “the top of the iceberg” since the word sugar conveys a multitude of various aspects. Within the rest of the iceberg lie the histories of the peopling of Mauritius, of the changes in its economy and commerce and of the agronomic study of sugar production. The Sugar Adventure is for all ages—and as much for the sugar technician as for the historian, the simply curious or the knowledgeable, for the engineer or the tourist. It has been conceived so as to be of international, as well as local, interest. It is the product of investment by promoters from the private sugar sector meant to be of service to all. Behind such a simple word as “sugar”, the Sugar Adventure has attempted to reveal the very soul of Mauritius. The journey from sugar cane to sugar

Giant mills, vacuum pans, cristalisers and centrifugals...an imposing machinery to turn cane into juice and juice into sugar crystals.

Step 1 : crushing

In the early days of sugar production in Mauritius the words “les moulins”—the mills—were used to describe the buildings where the cane was transformed into sugar as well as the actual cylinders which did the crushing. At first these were in a vertical position; only later were they placed, as now, horizontally. In fact the word “moulin” itself is English in origin, where a variety of different manufacturing processes, but mainly for textiles, are undertaken in “the mill”. Even centuries later these enormous crushing cylinders are still called “les moulins”. Just as one has to press a lemon to get its juice, so one has to “press” the sugar cane to get its juice—sugar. The first written records we have tell how juice was obtained from the cane by using a piston to crush it in a hollow tree trunk, much like a pestle and mortar. Yet another ancient method, still practised here till the early years of the 20th century, was the use of a basalt cylinder, activated by hand. Later came the vertical cylinders mentioned, above—by mechanically turning the middle of 3 cylinders, the other two were made to turn in the opposite direction. The cane was introduced to be crushed between two cylinders, the juice ran out, and the operation was repeated on the other side. Later the cylinders were placed horizontally and those at Beau Plan were frequently modified and improved throughout the 20th century. The process of milling or crushing involves 3 or 4 cylinders—one at entry, one at the exit and the upper middle ones. All the juice cannot be extracted in a single passage, so the cane (already finely cut in pieces before coming to the cylinders) passes through a series of mills till the final fibrous residue called “bagasse” appears. In order to extract the maximum amount of juice from the bagasse it is saturated with water during this process. The juice is then weighed and analysed so that the ensuing manufacturing processes can be controlled.

The importance of bagasseItalic text

Bagasse is that fibrous part of the sugar cane that is left once all the juice that can economically be obtained has been extracted during the crushing process. Until very recently the boilers, where bagasse was burnt as fuel, reduced it completely to ash. However, over the past 30 years, sugar factories in Hawaii, Reunion and Mauritius have realized what a tremendous potential bagasse represents for the production of electrical energy. Since then the sugar industry reaps considerable financial benefit from this source. In 2002, more than 40% of the electricity produced in Mauritius comes from the sugar factories’ power plants. The implementation of plans for the production of electrical energy from bagasse has meant that Mauritius has not only been able to diversify her sources of energy, but has also been able to modernize and centralize the sugar factories and reduce its imports of fossil fuels. What is even more important is the reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases.

Step 2 : clarificationItalic text

Leaving the somewhat imposing vision of those majestic cylinders we shall now enter into the secret world of the transformation of sugar cane juice into sugar crystals. We shall see a series of industrial machines whose job is, first, to purify the juice. This is done chemically by the addition of lime, hence the term “chaulage” or “liming”—this explains the presence of so many old lime kilns in Mauritius.

The lime precipitates out the non-sugar constituants contained in the juice which will form a solid mass “les boues” (muds) which fall to the bottom of the decanter. These “boues”, after further processing are used as fertilizer for the cane fields. Nothing is wasted in the sugar cane.

Step 3 : evaporationItalic text So that sugar can be crystallized out of the juice, it has to be concentrated first. The concentration process takes place in the evaporators—like huge great organ pipes in that cathedral of a sugar factory. About 80% of the weight of the juice needs to be evaporated and it is this process which uses the most thermal energy in the factory. So it needs to be done as efficiently as possible—hence the need for a battery of different wooden evaporators in which the juice is gradually concentrated under the influence of steam.

Step 4 : cookingBold text

This operation is wrongly called “cooking”—for if one really cooked the concentrated juice it would turn to caramel! Part of the whole science of sugar production lies in the use of great vacuum pans (the “vides”) to get the juice—now called “la massecuite”—to crystallize under strict vacuum temperature control. If visitors to Beau Plan so wish, they can see what it feels like to be a sugar crystal by going inside one of these huge apparatuses—but without the heat of course… “The great vacuum pans were very clean, the copper domes of two of them were gleaming bright after being polished with ash mixed with a sort of herb, like sorrel, called “tinepatia” by the Indians. The maker’s name and the date of manufacture were artistically engraved on them. In fact, one of them is very old—one of the first ever imported here—but don’t our Creoles say “the best curry is cooked in old pots.” Arthur Martial—In the shadow of the old mill

Step 5 : crystallization and drying processBold text

The various machines follow one another. First the blenders like huge jaws with their upright tubes. Here the “massecuite” coming out of the vacuum containers will be cooled down to facilitate the settling down of sugar on the crystals already formed.

Then the centrifugalsItalic text

Once the liquid mass has almost dried out in the blenders, the sugar crystals can be extracted in the form in which they are to be sold. This process takes place in what are called turbines or centrifuges, which are nothing other than great spin-dryers—just as clothes are dried in spin-dryers in the home. Rinsing water is evacuated from the clothes through holes in the tambour of the machine. In the sugar factory the sugar crystals stay in the tambour and it is the syrup which runs out through the holes. This syrup is called molasses, a by-product with a high sugar content (about 30%—but very difficult to extract completely) and is used after distillation to make cane spirit. It is also exported as a base for animal feed.  The drying processItalic text

Long ago, the concentrated syrup (the mother juice) “le jus mère” was then dried in the sun, run out onto sheeting or spread out on wooden platforms. In fact the sugar leaving the centrifuges still contains 1-2% moisture which makes bad for keeping. So nowadays it is passed through a drying machine blowing hot air. At Beau Plan you’ll have to imagine the dryer, as it is no longer in place.

 The Sugar Routes

Throughout the ages it has come about that the principal source of sugar for humanity is the sugar cane. Recent research shows that it originated in New Guinea and only later was it to be found further west in India and China.It was introduced to the West in 325 BC when the troops of Alexander the Great returned to Europe. From the Middle Ages till the Renaissance it was known in Europe due to the powerful influence of Venice... Sugar travels

Throughout the ages it has come about that the principal source of sugar for humanity is the sugar cane. Recent research shows that it originated in New Guinea and only later was it to be found further west in India and China.It was introduced to the West in 325 BC when the troops of Alexander the Great returned to Europe. From the Middle Ages till the Renaissance it was known in Europe due to the powerful influence of Venice. Only later, after the discovery of America, were whole colonies devoted to its production. By the beginning of the 19th century sugar cane had at last completed a round-the-world trip which had taken 2000 years. From India sugar cane reached Persia, and then spread throughout the Middle East till it reached the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. We find it in the mid 8th century near the Nile delta. The racial mixing brought about by war and trade also led to the spread of sugar cane. The crusaders returning from the Holy Land brought sugar to France. We find it growing in Sicily in the 12th century, where it had been introduced by the Arabs. The formal cultivation of sugar cane is thought to have first started in Cyprus in about 1550 – in ancient times the island had been covered with cane planted by the Egyptians. But Sicily jealously guarded its right to sugar production.

Sugar at the heart of the Mauritian economy

By the mid-19th century, times had greatly changed since those heroic days when the boats of the Compagnie des Indes were supplied with barrels of rough alcohol by the inhabitants of the island. Now was the time for expansion of exports to new continents. Foreign investment, mainly from England, led to technological improvements in production such as the steam engine, vacuum “cooking” and centrifugation. The proliferation of sugar mills reached its peak in about 1853 when sugar was being exported by sea to Europe, India and Australia. Gradually it became clear that it would be much more economical to centralize sugar estates. The industry was consolidated in the early years of the 20th century and saw its most glorious moment at the time of the sugar boom in the twenties.

Sugarcane

Sugar cane is a vigorous plant which reproduces itself by cuttings. It thrives in tropical and subtropical regions where there are the warmth and high humidity needed for its growth. All about the sugar cane plant

When ready to be cut, the sugar is concentrated in the lower part of the stem near the ground, which is why it must be cut at this level, so as not to lose the richest part. The white upper part of the stem has little sugar content and is thrown away with the leaves.

New plants will be grown from the “eyes” which are found in the under ground part of the plant, the rhizome. So the cycle which can be repeated up to 7 times, starts again each year, depending on the soil and the varieties.  Seeds are used for improving the  cane varietiesItalic text

Seeds are produced by cross-breeding, for the sole purpose of improving the varieties of cane. This cross-breeding of the male and female parent plant is undertaken in “lanternes” – sort of wedding-chambers - under conditions of controlled temperature and  humidity. From the union of the pollen and ovule spring new cane shoots, some of which will be new varieties of cane. All the data collected are treated by computer and the results go to assist the geneticists in their choice of breeds.

The planter’s taskBold text

Cane is propagated by cuttings planted in rows about 1m 50 apart. For a successful crop, the soil must be well prepared, good quality cuttings used, with sufficient water and fertilizer, and all at the right temperature. Between 18,000 and 20,000 cuttings are planted per hectare.

The characteristics of the plantBold text

The saccharose is stocked in the cane stem. Each stem contains 10 to 15% fibrous matter, 12 to 18% sugar as saccharose with a little glucose. A cane plant can give up to 20 litres of juice from which may be extracted 2 kgs of sugar. It can be replanted by cuttings up to seven times. There are many different cane varieties  falling into   two main families: the cultivated and the wild.

Babita23 (talk) 17:29, 19 December 2010 (UTC)