Tapping into the history of maple syrup

Sweet, hearty, a product of winter, and prone to sticking to things, while these words call be used to describe Canadians themselves, I am in fact talking about something that has long been a product of the snowy wonderland that is Canada: maple syrup.

While many people the world over have enjoyed maple syrup before (or at least tried something that was artificially flavoured to taste like maple syrup), this amber hued sweet treat is in fact produced in only a few small areas, chiefly north-eastern North America, which the provinces of Quebec and Ontario being the most prolific sources of maple syrup in Canada (south of the border, Vermont is also renowned for its delicious syrup). Just as only a mere handful of areas produce maple syrup, so too is its harvesting season quite small.

Though, technically, it can be produced at pretty much any point in the year if the weather conditions are right, typically - and traditionally - maple sap has been harvested and then refined into syrup during the last few weeks of winter, with February being one of the most common times of the year for this sweet gift from Mother Nature to be gathered.

{Many brands of maple syrup - be their pure, blended or artificial - have been around for many decades, including Log Cabin Maple Syrup, pictured in the vintage ad above, who are still in business to this day. Image source.}



In order to morph tree sap gathered (aka, tapped) from maples that are generally 30 years or older into syrup, it is usually boiled in a special building called a sugar shack (aka, a sugar shanty, sugar house, or in French, cabane à sucre) that is designed with a roof that allows the stem from the boiling process to be vented out (it can also be made on a smaller scale by boiling it outdoors in a cauldron or large pot over an open fire).

The finished syrup is graded on a scale depending on both how dense (in Canada syrup must be at least 66% sugar and be created entirely from maple sap to qualify as true maple syrup) and how translucent it is, and then further classified based on its colour.

{A mid-twentieth century snapshot inside of man hard at work in a classic maple syrup sugar shack. Image source.}



The grading scales in Canada varies a tad from those in the States, but generally speaking, the higher the grade and the lighter the colour the syrup, the more highly prized it is for use as a condiment. Darker (grade B and C syrups) are often used for cooking, baking and commercial applications, though one can also find darker syrups designed specifically be drizzled over your morning stack of pancakes or waffles.

An individual maple tree can normally be tapped one to three times per year (depending on how big the diameter of its trunk is), producing up to 50 litres (13 gallons) of sap per one to two month harvesting season. Maple trees house starch inside of their roots and truck before winter sets in which is later converted to sugar that appears in the tree's sap come winter and early spring.

It is this starchy sugar that makes maple syrup so characteristically sweet. In order to turn sap into sugar, it is heated and boiled to evaporate the excess water, with the concentrated syrup remaining (akin in a sense to the process of creating caramel or candy from sugar and water at home on the stove).

{A Victorian image, circa 1870, of a group of people at a sugaring-off party held in the Eastern Townships area of Quebec. Similar events are still held annually in various parts of Eastern Canada and America to this day. Image source.}



Long before European settlers set foot on Canadian soil, maple sap was tapped and transformed into syrup by the First Nations peoples of North America, however it was the Europeans who refined and streamlined the process into what it is today (an industry that exports more than $145 million dollars worth of syrup annually). By far the largest producer of maple syrup in the world is the eastern province of Quebec, which is outputs roughly seventy-five percent of the world's total maple syrup (talk about a sweet place!).

Though by no means the healthiest of foods (calorie wise, it's very similar to white sugar), maple syrup does contain small amounts of iron, thiamine, potassium, manganese and zinc, as well as 15 times the calcium levels (and a mere one tenth the sodium) of honey.

It's flavour is both complex and simple (in the sense that it's very much a taste that's unique unto itself), redolent in many ways of dark brown sugar, but with more intense, subtly earthy, ever-so-slightly vanilla-ish notes. Though sweet like honey, treacle and molasses, one taste instantly lets you know that it's discernably different than those three somewhat similar substances, and that is has a pleasing flavour truly all its own.

Imitation maple syrup, though very tasty and pleasing in its own right, is generally milder and more artificial tasting than natural maple syrup, as well as generally costing a fraction of the price of the real deal.

If you've never had a chance to try genuine maple syrup, I highly recommend sourcing a bottle and experimenting with it both as a topping on various foods (pancakes, oatmeal, crepes, waffles, doughnuts, sauces for meat, etc) and as an ingredient in baked and cooked dishes (such as pies, breads, baked beans, cookies, and candied sweet potatoes).

{A vintage ad from 1950 for Sleepy Hollow brand maple syrup, which was a hybrid of sorts between real, pure maple syrup and imitation maple syrup, as it featured a blend of real maple and cane sugar. Image source.}



The maple tree, and its sap, have been a part of the Canadian identity for centuries, as evident by the fact that a red maple leaf takes pride-of-place in the center of our country's flag. We're known the world over for our maple syrup products, a fact which tourist shops across the country often capitalize on by selling charming glass bottles (often in the shape of small jugs or maple leaves) of maple syprup and various maple products (fudge, sugar, hard candy, etc) to visitors and locals alike.

Here in Canada genuine maple syrup can be found at nearly any grocery store (as well as some specialty food shops, department stores, gift shops, and various other locations), but it you live outside of North American, it may be trickier to track down.

Luckily however, in today's online world, one can easily order maple syrup products online, with four of the country's best known sources being Jakeman's (who have been in business since 1876), Steeves Maples (founded in 1869), Maple Orchard Farms, and Canadian Organic Maple.

Though I've never had the pleasure of tapping a maple tree or attending a sugaring (syrup making) in person (I'd love to one day), I've certainly tucked into my fair share of maple syrup and maple flavoured foods over the years. Indeed, there's scarcely a food that hasn't been jazzed up with maple syrup over the years here in Canada, where we're partial to everything from maple bacon to maple glazed salmon, maple (usually maple walnut, to be exact) ice cream to maple flavoured popcorn.

{Two early twentieth century - likely late 1910s or very early 20s - women boiling down maple syrup, as it has been done for generations, in the great outdoors. Image source.}



During the challenging years of the second world war when sugar rationing was in place, Canadians and Americans alike we encouraged to use maple syrup and maple sugar as a means of sweeting their favourite baked goods and other foods, with various maple syrup recipe booklets even being produced specifically for this purpose. Today, though it's a charming idea to think so, maple syrup is not the chief sweetener in most peoples' homes, but is certainly is one that's widely loved from coast to coast across the nation.

I always keep a bottle of maple syrup on hand, and never tire of using put it to use in both tried-and-true favourite recipes and experimental dishes alike (rarely has it not worked wonders on, and in, everything from chicken wings to apple sauce). This time of the year, as maple sugaring seasoning gets under way in full swing back east, I love to include an even larger number of maple flavoured foods in our weekly menu then usual, in a celebration of one of the country's most famous and beloved foods.

Join me, won't you, and indulge in a generous drizzling of maple syrup this month as Canada's sweetest harvest kicks off once more, helping to make an otherwise dreary, often freezing cold time of the year a whole lot easier - and sweeter - to bear.