Confections of the English Renaissance span a wide range of products. All were heavily based on sugar, which was a relatively new development. Many were considered to have medicinal properties – a belief that was influenced by the Arabic use of sugar as a medicine and that carried over from medieval sugar usage. In the mid-sixteenth century, sugar became cheaper and more widely available to the general populace due to European colonization of the New World. It began to be used more as a flavouring, preservative, and sweetener, as it is today, rather than as medicine.
Origins
Before the Renaissance era, confections typically consisted of exotic imports from the Mediterranean and the Middle East such as almonds, citrus fruits, rosewater, spices, and sometimes, sugar. The exclusivity and high cost of ingredients made confectionery a respected trade. While sugarcane had been known in Europe since Roman times, it had previously been dismissed in favor of honey as a sweetener. It became more widely used after Arabs and Persians developed the process that produces refined sugar.
Italian traders were instrumental in the trade of sugar and other confections from the Middle East to Europe, especially in the Middle Ages. Venice was a particularly important trading hub, very dominant in the diffusion of Arabic sugar skills and medicine. Sugar became more common in Europe starting in the 1420s, after Portuguese colonies began to cultivate sugarcane and overtook imports from the Middle East. The price of sugar dropped significantly after New World imports began to dominate the market in the mid-sixteenth century. This allowed for the increased production of sweetmeats as desserts, and the confectioner could expand his market to people beyond the upper classes. Originally associated with medicine, sugar's role as a main ingredient in confections and preservatives became more popular in the early Renaissance. Noblewomen would engage in confectionery as a hobby, which partly gave rise to the tradition of banquets in England.
Colonialism
Renaissance confectionery was heavily reliant on sugar. Colonization in the New World did not significantly affect the sugar trade until the mid-sixteenth century. Spanish colonies in the Canaries and Portuguese colonies in the Azores, Madeira, and São Tomé were the first to use slaves to produce sugar. The West Indies soon proved to be more conducive to sugarcane production and colonizing countries sent Africans as slaves to work on sugarcane plantations there from the early sixteenth century. The Atlantic slave trade fuelled sugar production and imports into England and continued for centuries until its abolition in 1807. Voyages were deadly due to torturous conditions on ships, and plantation work was laborious and slaves would often perish from the physical stress. Planting sugarcane involved digging pits in a way that plows could not, then harvesting it and crushing it in sugar mills to produce sugar. Additionally, the crop itself was more labour-intensive that other cash crops such as cotton. The sugar slave trade is considered to be the first occurrence of mass slavery since Roman times.
Types
Sweetmeats
"Sweetmeats" is a term that encompasses a wide range of confections prepared with sugar. Quince was a versatile and popular fruit in the Renaissance. It was used for medicinal preparations and eaten preserved, jellied, and as the main ingredient in marmalades. Marmalade in the Renaissance was a quince paste cooked in sugar, sometimes enhanced with rosewater, spices, perfumes such as musk, and fruit juices. It would be set in decorative moulds and could be served with comfits placed on top.
Syrup is a sugar-based confection made by boiling sugar and water, either served alone or with candied fruits or other flavourings. Syrups as a fruit preservative gained popularity with the lower classes once the price of sugar dropped in the late sixteenth century. Before this, upper-class women made it at home. The use of syrup as a preservative originated in Arabic countries; England was exposed to it through the import of preserved citrus fruits.
Conserves were made "by pounding fresh herbs, flowers or fruits with sugar to form a thick, sticky mass." They were most often made with aromatic flowers and could be enhanced with medicinal ingredients. Some popular examples include the conserves of red roses, marigolds, violets, chicory, rosemary, lavender, barberries, apricots, and oranges.