 |
Jessica Klick harvests sap from a maple tree on her land in Vermont.
Jessica Klick
|
Although we tend to think of all syrup as generically “maple,” most commercial syrups contain little, if any, sugar from maple trees. Most of the pancake syrup that Americans eat is mostly corn syrup and lacks the rich and subtle flavors of pure maple syrup. Legally, these corn-syrup based products can’t be called “maple syrup” — instead the label will say “pancake syrup,” or simply “syrup.” That makes it easy to pick out the real thing: Pure maple syrup will be clearly identified both on the front of the bottle, and on the ingredients list.
RELATED CONTENT
A Sap-Seeker's Field Guide...
maple syrup....the cool way January/February 1974 by: George R. Lightsey I've always thought of thi...
Sandy Hevener talks about the differences between the northern and southern syrup making....
Learn to make jack wax, a yummy winter candy made with maple syrup and snow....
Real maple syrup costs quite a bit more than other pancake syrups — think $6 for a small bottle, instead of $2. But the difference in flavor is worth the extra money. It's like drinking 100 percent fruit juice, instead of fruit drinks made with “natural fruit flavors.” Most pancake syrup tastes like sugar. Pure maple syrup tastes like maple trees.
How It's Made
Maple syrup comes mainly from the northeastern United States, and eastern Canada, where there are large stands of sugar maple trees. Making it is labor intensive: To harvest the sap, you put a tap into the tree. When temperatures rise in the early spring, the sap flows through the tap and into a bucket below. Once you’ve collected enough of the sap, you boil it to remove most of the water and make it sweeter. Forty gallons of sap makes about 1 gallon of syrup. If harvesting is done responsibly, it doesn’t hurt the tree, and can take place year after year.
New England farmers and homesteaders have been making maple syrup for generations, and many have written about how it works. One book with a lot more information is The Maple Sugar Book by Helen and Scott Nearing. Noel Perrin is another rural living writer who has described sugar making in detail, including a book, the Amateur Sugar Maker and a pamphlet, Making Maple Syrup.
