Piloncillo

I have always seen those little brown cones in the bins of Mexican markets yet never paid much attention to them. Eventually I found out that they were sugar but I still had no idea what to do with them. I had the attitude of, "I have plenty of sugar at home, what's the point of having a hard cone of the same thing?"

I came across one of these cones on a job and proceeded to do what I always do...I tasted it. For a moment I thought that I was tasting candy. So sweet and multidimensional! The flavor was caramel-like and reminiscent of Dulce de Leche. What is this stuff? I took it home and Googled "Mexican brown sugar" (must Google EVERYTHING!). I found out that it is called piloncillo. It is unrefined cane sugar and is used in some Mexican deserts and drinks. It was once considered inferior to refined sugar.

This morning I decided to try it with my tea. I had to grate it to access the sugar. In fact, I had to grate it quite a bit and it was a lot of work! A lot more work than scooping a teaspoon into a box of sugar, but it was well worth the extra elbow grease. It imparted a slightly smoky, caramel-ish, almost maple-like sweetness to my morning drink. Mmmm, the perfect beginning to my Saturday!