When cooked, however, their subtle sugars and delicately granular texture become very appealing, particularly if you season them with salt, pepper and a bit of spice.
On those oppressively hot afternoons, my mother used to take her glass of tea, place two sugar cubes delicately between her lips, and sit in the garden while I played with my toys in our empty pool as if it were a giant concrete playpen.
Among them are Tahitian, a black tea flavored with rock sugar and tropical fruits including passion fruit; jasmine, delicately touched with lemon and sugar; and a floral chrysanthemum.
The latest haute incarnation is at Dovetail in Manhattan, where the pastry chef Vera Tong spikes her cream-and-orange-infused doughnuts with Earl-Grey-tea sugar for a delicately fragrant result.
He delicately places a cube of sugar dead-center on a black napkin laid over the mouth of a glass.
At Wednesday's matinee this was danced by Melissa Hamilton, delicately pretty, if tentative, as the Sugar Plum Fairy, and Sergei Polunin, a beautifully refined dancer who didn't look as if this were his favorite role.
Likewise, the Vietnamese grill a delicately flavored shrimp mousse on broad, flat lengths of sugar cane.
And with a barely-there sugar crust coating that crackles ever so delicately when the teeth press into the confection, no artisan marshmallow can compare.
I nibbled away, tasting licorice and burnt sugar enriched with fruity olive oil on a delicately wheaty base.
At Shallots NY, a kosher restaurant at 550 Madison Avenue (55th Street), the chef, Damian Sansonetti, beats 4 egg yolks with 2 tablespoons superfine sugar and 1/4 cup of kosher Italian moscato, a delicately sweet wine.
