- maple syrup
- Maple syrup - grade, diet and effect
Maple syrup is one of the oldest and most original natural products that exists. Maple syrup is tapped today from the Canadian maple trees, as it was hundreds of years ago. The secret of the trees had been copied by the first white settlers of the Native Americans. Today, the sweet liquid is a Canadian export hit, there are numerous maple syrup recipes - although the classic American version with maple syrup to pancakes is still the most popular preparation with this syrup.
Discovery of maple syrup
According to legend, an Indian once watched a squirrel climb a branch of a maple tree, bite a small hole in the bark, and start drinking. To see what the squirrel tasted so good, the Indian also cut a branch and tasted the exiting liquid. The man was so enthusiastic about the sweet taste that he immediately told his tribal brethren about the tree that shed crystalline sugar tears.
A short time later, the Indians had learned to tap the maple trees and cook the juice into delicious syrup. This technique has hardly changed until today.
Maple syrup: production and extraction
Only in the spring during the thaw, when the starch stored in the trees turns into sugar, the logs can be tapped for a few weeks. All you have to do is drill a hole in the bark, into which a tap is put. Through this tap, the crystalline liquid then drips into a bucket or hose.
Now, within the next 24 hours, she has to be brought to a sugar house and processed. There, the juice is evaporated, filtered and finally bottled or containers. By cooking several times, the initially transparent liquid thickens to a dark, viscous syrup.
Maple tree as a clever donor
This whole process of making maple syrup runs in complete harmony with nature. The tree only gives off as much juice as it can spare - after all, it needs a large part of its strength for itself.
At the same time a maple farmer would never take more than the tree can give, because only a healthy tree can donate juice again next year. Incidentally, a maple tree must be at least 40 years old before it can be tapped for the first time.