Maple Syrup Quart

Maple Syrup

What could be better than authentic maple syrup on pancakes? How about a drizzle of maple syrup on baked brie? How about a maple Old Fashioned? Consider maple syrup instead of honey to glaze meats. And just for the fun of it, why not emulate the New England kids who pour lines of warmed syrup onto clean snow, then swizzle popsicle sticks in the snow-syrup mixture to retrieve a yummy swirl of maple “taffy.”” No doubt about it: Maple syrup is too versatile to restrict it to the breakfast table.

People have been having fun with maple syrup for centuries in the northeastern portion of North America. Native Americans discovered the delicious treasure inside red, black and sugar maple trees and later shared their culinary and processing knowledge with European settlers.

In cold climates, maples sustain themselves through the harsh winter by storing starch in their roots and trunks. The starch converts to sugar, which rises in sap form during an early spring thaw. Harvesters bore holes in the bark to extract the sweet liquid. They boil down the liquid under careful temperature control. It takes 40-50 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. Quebec leads the world in maple syrup production. Vermont is the top US producer. Small-scale maple syrup production extends as far south as the higher elevations of both Virginias.

Mother Nature has given us a rare gift: a food that is sinfully good, but also provides some heatlh benefits. Maple syrup is filled with antioxidants, which help combat the free radicals that cause so many ailments. It contains significant amounts of zinc, important for the immune system, heart health and male fertility.

Options

We offer “Grade A – Amber Dark Robust Taste” maple syrup. Believe it or not, that ungainly mouthful is actually a technical description (read more about maple’s silly nomenclature on our blog). Mount Hope Wholesale’s maple syrup is also available by the bulk gallon.