The sugarcane shop around the corner {Cultural Foodie}

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It is green with a slight coldness, refreshing, affordable, and increasingly accessible — no need to guess, it is sugarcane juice in Egypt.

For those who have never been to Egypt, sugarcane juice is one of the most popular drinks in the country. It is found almost everywhere in most inhabited places buzzing with life, where all the real action in the city takes place. For those who might look for it in a gated community or guarded mall, you can find a well-marketed version with some changes — most notably in price and experience. The latter is the most crucial because sugarcane juice is mainly sold in small or big juice shops, but most people have it during their errands. It’s a fresh start in the middle of everything else. It is always fresh and made to order on the spot, a great healthy substitute for artificial sugary drinks. It is cheap — and that is a compliment in a city full of money-draining systems. It may not be a common topic, but it can be a novel opportunity to initiate casual conversations with others.

Talking about sugarcane juice shops in city centers, it is very much accessible to anyone passing by. While there are other juices available at shops, there is something special about sugarcane. It might be the naturally sweet taste in the hot summer that helps avoid the awful sunstroke.

So I was intrigued to find out more about sugarcane. The plant was first introduced by the Arabs in 641 AD. It is grown from Minya Governorate to Aswan Governorate, both located in the south of Egypt. The country relied on it for sugar production up until 1982, when the beetroot sugar industry was introduced. Nowadays, most of the sugar production depends on beetroot cultivation. However, back in 1868, the country heavily considered sugarcane cultivation as the main resource for sugar production. Therefore, the government supported the import of sugarcane varieties from other countries to establish a strong foundation for the industry and promote its cultivation. These varieties were imported from numerous countries including Hawaii, Mauritius, Puerto Rico, and Australia.

In the meantime, the Sugarcane Research Center was established under the Ministry of Agriculture to supervise sugarcane production and cultivation.

Sugarcane is environmentally and economically challenging, as it requires large amounts of water for its production. There are quite a few water-related challenges the country is considering — among them is the cultivation of water-intensive crops.

Regardless, sugarcane juice in Egypt remains one of the favorite drinks anyone can try — especially in the summer season.

References: 

Abou-Youssef, H. M., Ibrahim, A. M., El-Mistikawy, M. M., & Abdel-Aziz, A. (2021). History of sugarcane varieties in Egypt [Table]. In A review on sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.) and its current status in Egypt.ResearchGate.https://www.researchgate.net/figure/History-of-sugarcane-varieties-in-Egypt_tbl3_352814105