I was explaining this to my daughter in quite simplified terms the other day- we evolved to taste sugar and enjoy it because finding a sweet edible plant meant we had a source of energy to help us hunt that day. Pretty useful if you’re a hunter-gatherer.

So we seek out sugar. Now we can get it whenever we want it, in much more massive quantities than we are supposed to be processing. Most of us are addicted. I’m not an exception.

  • thenextguy@lemmy.world
    781·
    14 hours ago

    I have never put any sugar in my from scratch sauce. But that’s probably why I don’t like jar sauce.

    • Rai@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      1·
      42 minutes ago

      I can’t imagine putting sugar in my sauce. The sweetness comes from hour four of San Marzano tomatoes simmering in an enameled Dutch oven.

    • BreadOven@lemmy.world
      37·
      13 hours ago

      You get it from different sources. Breakdown of onions and as someone else mentioned, carrots. Balsamic vinegar has some. There’s other sources as well, I’m just blanking on them.

      But agreed, I rarely add actual plain sugar to my pasta sauces.

      • thenextguy@lemmy.world
        152·
        1 hour ago

        I don’t put anything like that in my sauce. Tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, herbs and spices.

        I think cooking it for hours tends to lower the acidity a bit.

        But I think I just like it that way.

        • Cris@lemmy.worldEnglish
          15·
          12 hours ago

          Your sauce will still have less sugar than others, but if I understand correctly, simmering for hours will break down the more complex sugars in tomatoes into simpler sugars resulting in a somewhat sweeter taste

          I think cooking does also dull the percieved acidity of food though, hence lemon juice or other acids often being added at the end so as to keep the brightness. But I’m not actually sure if the pH changes or if it’s just a change in the tartness we associate with acidity, maybe someone can chime in with more information :)

          • rhombus@sh.itjust.works
            2·
            1 hour ago

            The actual acid (acetic in vinegar, citric in citrus and tomatoes) actually boils off with the water. So a long simmer actually removes the acid and changes the pH of the dish.

            • Cris@lemmy.worldEnglish
              2·
              1 hour ago

              Oh shit, that’s super interesting! Really appreciate you sharing that, now I wanna go read more about that some time!

      • KurtVonnegut@mander.xyz
        2·
        11 hours ago

        But is the sugar of broken down (caramelized) onions the same sugar? As in, would the jar with sugar next to my meal to show me how much sugar I’m eating fill up as the onions caramelize?

      • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        12 hours ago

        Yes, but aren’t those sugars much different (read: better) than refined cane sugar (or worse: HFCS)?

        • RonnieB@lemmy.world
          81·
          11 hours ago

          Sugar is sugar, but it’s better that you’re getting vitamins and fiber from those plants as fiber will slow the rate of absorption.

          • dohpaz42@lemmy.worldEnglish
            5·
            10 hours ago

            Fair and excellent point.

            What I failed to articulate originally was that a lot of food already naturally contains sugar in some form, so adding in more sugar (like cane sugar or HFCS) is what makes it bad for you.