Gold bars of sweetness – the story of artisanal Piloncillo

Did you know that mountains of Sinaloa are brimming with precious minerals? For centuries hardworking miners have extracted gold, silver, lead, copper and zinc from these mountains. It boosted prosperity in towns like Concordia, Pánuco and El Rosario and drove the creation of the port of Mazatlan in the 19th century. Nowadays mining is still an important industry in Sinaloa, but fisheries, agriculture and tourism have taken over. Many residents of former mining towns have moved away, leaving few jobs in the logging industry and small-scale farming. It isn’t only doom and gloom: there are traditions, long-gone in the cities, are proudly preserved here. Flavor Teller obtained rare access to the seasonal sugarcane harvest, also known as La Zafra, and the preparation of artisanal cane sugar or piloncillo.

So what is piloncillo and how do you use it? It’s a natural sweetener made by reducing raw cane sugar juice into a thick syrup and then pressing it into dense bricks or cones. You have probably seen it at the market. Piloncillo has a smoky, caramelized, sometimes fudgy flavor. It is used in desserts like arroz con leche or capirotada bread pudding or hot beverages like café de olla or atole.

What struck me most about artisanal piloncillo, is the knowledge and dedication that goes into making it. During the lengthy process there were lots of hands available to grind or stir, but it was the sugarcane elder that decided when the syrup was ready. Of course it was only his voice that counted: who could beat 70 years of experience!

The process starts by manually harvesting the sugar cane. Contrary to big sugar cane plantations, the fields aren’t burnt to eliminate excess foliage. This creates a fudge color, compared to the darker commercial piloncillo. The sugar cane stalks are stacked up next to a horse-powered (or man-powered) mill and the juice is extracted. By the time enough juice is collected, they light up the fire pit and hang two huge cauldrons over it. The mixture has to boil down to a thick syrup, which can take up to eight hours. As you can imagine, the heat of a wood fire isn’t exactly a precise temperature all the time. That’s why there are always two people supervising the sugar mixture to avoid spills. With big metal strainers they stir and cool down the concoction, spreading a magic waft of sweetness. Meanwhile the wooden molds are pre-soaked with water, so the piloncillo can be easily removed afterwards. Once the sugarcane elder gives the thumbs-up, the cauldrons are removed from the fire pit. It is a race against the clock to cool down the syrup. A spoon, the size of an oar, is used to whip the boiling blend. It’s a grueling heavy job (talk about a core workout!), so they takes turns. The movement creates a deep African drum-like sound in the cauldron, which slowly turns into a lighter sound as the syrup cools down. Finally the piloncillo is poured into the molds.
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The piloncillo blocks almost look like gold ingots, with their golden fudge color. And it’s a product with a high demand. Most of the yearly production is already sold ahead of time to residents of neighboring villages. While we were there, many people came down to pitch in. I asked where they came from and most people said: “We’re part of the family”. So this small settlement of four families increases its population during La Zafra sugar harvest. It’s a wonderful example of how communal work and dedication can have such a sweet outcome.