Mmm … maple syrup. It’s a wonderful topping or ingredient and can make its way into almost any meal or snack. Pancakes, sausage, ham, ice cream sundaes – maple syrup can compliment many things. The list of things it can be an ingredient in is even larger. From baked beans and glazes to popcorn, butter tarts, muffins and cookies, maple syrup is versatile and delicious. The favourite foods to partner with maple syrup in our family are French toast or cornmeal muffins.
It’s a staple and produced abundantly in parts of Canada and the northern United States, with Vermont being the biggest producer in the United States and Quebec, Canada the largest in the world. Having learned the process from Indigenous people, European settlers began tapping trees and enjoying the gifts of the sugar maple as it eventually became part of their culture as well.
Growing up here in Ontario, many children visit a sugar shack in late February or March. These are sometimes on private property and other times are businesses with wagon rides through the woods, information about the tapping process and of course, pancakes or maple taffy.
At the point that I was out on my own and doing my own grocery shopping, the price difference between artificial table syrup and the authentic maple syrup hit home. The real stuff was several times the price of the artificial – wow!
However, when the kids and I spent some time during a couple of seasons at a family friend’s sugar bush, actually emptying the sap buckets and boiling the sap, I began to understand! See photos at the bottom of this post of our time at the sugarbush ten years ago this week – grainy, but nostalgic:). It takes approximately 40 litres of sap to make 1 litre of syrup! I knew this, but understood at that point in a more tangible way how labour intensive it can be to make syrup in larger amounts.
Full of nutrition, taste, history and tradition, find out more about the maple syrup industry and culture…
Interested in the culture and tradition surrounding maple syrup among French Canadians in Quebec? Have a look here.
Find out more about tapping sugar maple trees in an old-fashioned way if you happen to have some on your property. Learn more here.
Hear some tips from Newfoundlanders about making syrup from several kinds of maple trees here.
See how maple syrup production has been modernized at this Vermont maple syrup shack here.
Learn some of the different stories of Vermont American Indians about the wonderful discovery of maple sap and syrup here.
And to top things off, beautiful children’s picture books are available celebrating the “Maple Moon” or “Sugaring Off” time.
Sugar On Snow – Nan Parson Rossiter
Maple Syrup From the Sugarhouse -Laurie Lazzaro Knowlton, pictures by Kathryn Mitter
Maple Syrup Season – Ann Purcell, illustrated by Jill Weber
The Sugaring Off Party – Jonathan London, pictures by Gilles Pelletier
Taffy Time – Jennifer Lloyd, illustrated by Jacqui Lee
Sugarbush Spring – Marsha Wilson Chall, illustrated by Jim Daly
Maple Moon – Connie Brummel Crook and Scott Cameron
At Grandpa’s Sugarbush – Margaret Carney and Janet Wilson
Almost Time – Gary D. Schmidt and Elizabeth Sticknet, illustrated by G. Brian Karas
Enjoy this time if you live in Maple Syrup country and if not, you might want to take some time to read, learn and explore!
Photos from 10 years ago this week, helping work a family friend’s sugarbush with cousins – carrying, emptying and boiling sap into syrup … what a lovely memory to come across these photos:). Check out how close Niece K is to each part of the process – hands on and so fascinated!
