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Whoever would have thought that we would derive such
pleasure from tree sap? When winter days reach a mild
5°C but the nights stay cold, those with a sweet tooth
turn to maple syrup, maple sugar and maple butter
to warm their bellies in the last remaining days of
winter. As the world's fourth largest producer of
maple syrup (Quebec is number one), Ontarians have
long known about this ambrosial elixir, having learned
of its delights from North American natives when the
first settlers arrived from Europe. Native tribes
had such a liking for maple syrup that it was once
used as a form of currency. The Anishnabeg people
of Minnesota and other tribes used maple syrup as
a basic seasoning for grains and breads, stews, teas,
berries and vegetables.
Early settlers
soon learned the process of boiling sap and later
improved the methods; however, the process remains
unchanged since those early days. What has changed
is the technology. The sap that runs from maple trees
across the south-east of Canada and the north-east
of the United States is a clear fluid, very liquid
and not very sweet. When condensed down to a 35th
of its original volume, the sap becomes a sweet nectar
with an abundance of uses.
In Eastern
Ontario, lovers of maple products have lots of choice
when it comes to choosing a maple delight. With over
500 producers belonging to the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association,
each producing their unique blend of maple syrup,
sugar and butter, you'll never have difficulty finding
a maple product to suit your sweet tooth. Whether
you make your purchase from a country store, a supermarket
or directly from a road side producer, be sure to
look for the Ontario Maple Seal of Quality for a syrup
that has been made by conscientious producers using
best practices.
The finest
way to experience maple products is to visit a sugar
shack in March or April. Many local producers open
their doors to visitors eager to taste freshly made
syrup drizzled on snow. A day at a sugar shack is
both educational and filling. Some syrup operations
even promote delicious pancake breakfasts. Call one
of the producers near you for their hours of operation.
"Make
your own sugar and send not to the Indies for it.
Feast not on the toil, pain and misery of the wretched"
Farmer’s Almanac, 1803, on slavery in the
West Indies.
"I
am led to expect that a material part of the general
happiness which heaven seems to have prepared for
mankind will be derived from the manufacure and
general use of maple sugar." Benjamin Rush
With
notes from the Global Gourmet and Paula Giese on Traditional
Native Maple Sugar.
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