sorghum
Sorghum is a sweet syrup made by boiling down the juice of sorghum cane. In Appalachia and the South, it was often called "sorghum molasses" or "sorghum honey." Unlike dark cane molasses, sorghum is lighter, grassy, and homemade - a staple on biscuits and in old-time cooking.
Hillbilly Dude Says...
We always called it 'sorghum honey' - but we normally had clover honey. Pronunciation
[SOR-gum] or [SOR-ghum] (often "sorgum" in mountain speech)
Meaning & Usage
- A syrup from sorghum cane (noun)
Mae:
You want jelly or honey?
You want jelly or honey?
Earl:
Neither - just sorghum on my biscuit.
Neither - just sorghum on my biscuit.- Homemade sweetener in Appalachia (noun, cultural sense)
Mae:
Y’all busy this week?
Y’all busy this week?
Earl:
Yep - it’s sorghum makin’ time.
Yep - it’s sorghum makin’ time.other spellings: sorghum molasses, sorghum honey, country syrup, cane sorghum, ’lasses (sometimes confused with molasses), homemade sorghum, and sorghum cane syrup
★ The taste of sorghum is different from cane molasses - lighter, with a green, earthy note. For many mountain families, it was the everyday table syrup. ★
Origin
Made by pressing sorghum cane and boiling down the juice into syrup. The practice spread through the South and Appalachia in the 1800s, where sorghum often replaced more expensive sugar and molasses.
Notes
Still made at small sorghum mills in Appalachia and the South. Families often remember going to watch the cane pressing in fall, a community event tied to food and tradition.
Say It Like a Southerner
Said plain: "SOR-gum." Often clipped to "SOR-gum" or "SOR-um."