Although it took nearly 15 centuries for sugar cane to spread from India to Iran, it found its way to the whole of the Mediterranean region in the space of 200 years. This was the beginning of sugar’s victorious journey that would cover the entire world.
The Arab conquerors discovered sugar cane in Persia and immediately adopted it. Wherever they settled, they introduced sugar. It was cultivated in Palestine in the seventh century. By the eighth it was growing in Syria and in Egypt, where the plantations extended all along the Nile, and a century later, sugar cane flourished in the Moorish kingdoms of Andalusia in southern Spain. It was also introduced to the islands of Cyprus, Crete, Malta and Sicily.
The Arabs were clever gardeners and introduced cultivation techniques, such as irrigation. They were also skilled engineers and perfected the arts of extraction and processing. Not to be outdone, Arab cooks invented the first sugar syrups and sweet pastries.