As winter begins to fade, it brings me back to one of my favourite memories of my childhood, going on a school trip to a maple syrup festival and eating maple taffy that has been poured on a bed of snow outside a sugar shack. There is nothing like the unique taste of maple on a crisp winter’s day.
While the maple leaf is a symbol of our country, it is important to note that not every maple tree can produce the sap used to make maple syrup. In Ontario, there are seven types of maples and only two, the sugar maple and the black maple, can be used in maple syrup production. The sugar maple grows in eastern North America, more specifically: Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and 14 states in the USA. Canada produces 84% of the world’s maple syrup with over 90% of the supply coming from Quebec and 5% from Ontario. While our contribution is small, the maple industry in Ontario is worth approximately 15 million dollars annually.
I often wondered what brought about the flowing of the sap in late winter. After speaking to Paul Southwood, a Brooklin resident and maple syrup enthusiast, I learned that the ideal conditions are days with temperatures above freezing followed by nights that are below freezing. Aboriginals were the first to discover this delicious treat by cutting a slanting gash into the sugar maples and boiling the sap into sugar. Maple sugar was the first kind of sugar produced in eastern North America until cane sugar was introduced in 1875 by the Europeans. Maple syrup production has changed over time and has seen the sap collection change from buckets hung from every tree to the use a system tree taps and plastic tubing that are connected to the evaporator which boils the sap into syrup. On average and depending on the weather, each tap will release 40 litres of sap to produce one finished litre of maple syrup.
Once you have a container of this golden sweet stuff, you need to look beyond using it as a pancake and waffles topping and experiment with salad dressings, pies, cakes, cookies, frosting, bbq sauce, ice cream, salmon, ham, chicken; boiling it further can produce maple sugar, maple butter and my favourite, maple taffy! For maple recipe ideas check out www.foodland.gov.on.ca Another important fact is that maple syrup is best stored in the freezer as it will not freeze solid, and in just a few minutes at room temperature will make pouring a little easier.
The next few weeks provides us with an opportunity to experience the maple syrup harvest. I encourage you to take part in the upcoming festivities (see below) to enjoy the walk through the sugar bush, meet the people involved in the maple syrup production and best of all; sample the sweet maple syrup.
