Fruit of the Week: Sorghum

Name: Sorghum

Brand: Maasdam Sorghum Mills

Place of Purchase: HyVee Foods in Pella, Iowa

Country/Region of Origin: Lynnville, Iowa

Price in Iowa: $3.99

Description: Sparkling, molten copper syrup

Flavor: Sweet, an almost electric tartness, nutty and grassy afternotes. A very complex flavor.

Aroma: Burnt caramel, woody and grassy undertones

Texture/Mouth-feel: It's lighter than corn syrup, but thicker than maple

Notes: We're spending the holiday in Pella, Iowa. So, my fruit choices are super limited. I decided to do something a little different and pick a local crop that most people wouldn't be familiar with. Sorghum is not technical a fruit, it's a cereal crop like corn, wheat and barley. But the closest to something new I could find was some heirloom tomatoes, and that didn't seem genuine enough ("These tomatoes are more tomatoey than regular tomatoes"). So, I went with sorghum syrup. I was pleasantly surprised. I was expecting molasses, which to me just has a burnt, caramelized taste. Sourghum is more complex than that. You can taste the rougher flavors from the grain, as well as a few barely-detectable metallic flavors from the various compounds concentrated from the extraction process. I wouldn't say that sorghum is for everyone. It certainly smacks you in the face with a distinctive flavor. But I would suggest that everyone try it. If you like it, you can use it whenever you would use honey, molasses, or maple syrup. I don't know if it can be used to replace corn syrup, but it could be used to replace cane syrup. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my pound and change of syrup. But I might just start making gingerbread cookies and spice cakes to use it up.

Sorry no cheese last week. My wife was stuck in the hospital and I needed to take care of her. I'll make it up this week.