Sorghum

The regional syrup, greener and sourer than molasses. Poured, not baked in.

Syrup and salted fat whipped together is a southern condiment in its own right.

Two sour things, one dairy one cane-adjacent. They cancel each other neatly.

Tannin in the nut, dark phenols in the syrup. Both go bitter if you bake them too long.

West African staple pairing: ground nut sauce over stiff sorghum porridge.

Smoked fat glazed in green syrup: salt sits on top of the tannin.

Sharp heat cuts a syrup that would otherwise coat the whole mouth.

Lean meat and grassy grain, the way the Horn of Africa has always served it.

The original African brewing grain. It ferments sour, and nobody is fixing that.

Nutty milk solids meet grassy caramel; the two Maillard paths cross here.

Both are grass sugar and barrel. Splash it into the syrup and stop.

Blue mould over green syrup: the sourness in each finds the other.

Tannic bitterness on both sides. The syrup sweetens without going flat.