Pure indulgence. The ingredients of comfort?

They are still among the most important food products in world trade. These foods are unique in that they are the source of an extraordinary diversity of consumption patterns on all five continents! They are also inextricably linked to sugar and have accompanied the development of numerous confectionery and pastry-making traditions. The objects presented here bear witness to this. They also illustrate a phenomenal demand over the last four centuries for drinks that do not meet nutritional needs, but the specific appetites of a culture of pleasure! It is also worth noting that the rapid increase in their production and the spread of their consumption throughout the world marked the beginning of what some authors call the ‘plantationocene,’ the historical period which, from the 16th century onwards, saw the colonial and slave exploitation of tropical lands and the people who inhabited them.
 

The ‘plantationocene’ also defines the first rapid, global transformation of vast, previously uncultivated natural landscapes into areas of monoculture for export. The clearing and deforestation of land for these crops accelerated to an unprecedented scale in human history between the 16th and 19th centuries. The primary purpose of agricultural engineering was no longer to meet the need for food security, but to enable trade to flourish. With these commodities, agriculture worldwide became an area of capital investment for colonial powers. Even today, these crops raise sensitive issues about working conditions around the world.