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As the Sap Flows: It’s Maple Syrup Season

by · March 23rd, 2009
Farming, Kosher, Seasonality, Sugar

Tree Tapping Bucket

Here in the Berkshires, we’ve reached perfect maple syrup tapping temperatures: days above freezing, and nights below freezing. I had the chance to participate in some tree tapping last week.

Today The Cleaner Plate Club featured an article on Vermont maple syrup and sugaring that gives a clear picture of the syrup-making process.

In the past many maple syrup producers tested the readiness of their product by putting a small amount of lard on top of the syrup; nowadays most maple syrup makers use vegetable oil. To make sure your syrup is kosher, look for a kosher certified symbol, or contact the farmer or manufacturer. Check out this site for more information on kosher maple syrup. If you get the chance, visit a sugar shack this season to enjoy in the delights of maple.

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7 Responses to “As the Sap Flows: It’s Maple Syrup Season”

  1. Adam Jackson Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 10:03 am

    Mmmm – maple syrup!

    As one of my family members would say jokingly regarding pig products, “they put it in everything”. I think this often came from a Spanish/Portuguese context in which the inclusion of bacon/pork in so many recipes seems to have grown up as a kind of test to weed out conversos (sometime derogatorily called “Marranos”, itself meaning “pigs”) who were trying to keep kosher and avoid it (the other explanation, of course, is that pigs are cheap and peasant cooks need to find good ways of frugally using the whole animal, hence pig products’ popularity in the region).

    But I wonder, Lisa, whether the lard on the maple syrup is a geographical issue here, too. Vermont, Maine and Quebec are major cod-producing regions, originally fished heavily by Basque sailors: see Mark Kurlansky’s book Cod (http://www.amazon.com/Cod-Biog.....0140275010).

    Pig products do seem to be common in that region: quite a few of Kurlansky’s cod recipes also have pork/bacon/lard in them too.

  2. Maya Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 11:09 am

    My family always made maple syrup on our farm in Western PA, and I still ask them to send me bottles of maple syrup every time anyone comes to Israel! We never put oil on syrup at all– this is the first place I’ve heard that. You know syrup is ready when it sheets rather than drips off a spoon. Nothing beats the smell of boiling sap!

    btw, I’ve always wondered why plain sap isn’t sold as a drink. What do you think? Isn’t cool, fresh sap delicious? Maybe it has to do with the less-than-appetizing name… :)

  3. Lisa Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 11:18 am

    Adam: I did a bit of online research on lard and butter to look into the connection between lard and New England and Quebec. I would agree that since lard was a cheaper substance than butter until inexpensive vegetable oils and shortening were created, it was more readily available. It also seems that the smoke point of both lard and vegetable oil are higher than butter; that may also be why lard was commonly used.

    Maya: I’ve never tasted the sap before. What does it taste like? I know that I could drink the syrup though, but instead mix it into my yogurt, smoothies, and rice milk.

  4. Hannah Lee Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 11:21 am

    Maya,The New York Times ran an article recently (March 5th) on the Korean custom to celebrate spring by gathering to drink maple sap. It’s considered healthful, being rich in minerals such as calcium.

  5. Susan Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 11:32 am

    We use maple syrup with many of our breakfasts: on yoghurt, with oatmeal, with corn muffins, on bread, sometimes with a kind of egg dish made with leeks, as well as on waffles and pancakes. Symbolically, in our family, we liken it to internalizing a bit of the tree of life as a start to a new day.
    If you aren’t out there tapping your own trees, Brad’s Organic Maple Syrup is probably only one of many brands that is both organic and has a hecksher, but it is one we like and use.

  6. Adam Jackson Says:
    March 24th, 2009 at 9:40 pm

    An update: Rabbi Eidlitz of kosherquest.org (who’s a trusted authority in the haredi community) notes on his website that “maple syrup from Canada or Vermont” does not need a hechsher.

    This suggests that local regulations are strict enough about the purity of the maple syrup that producers couldn’t legally use lard in their preparation. Note, however, that this might not apply to maple syrup from other states in the USA, where the regulations may allow different things.

    (PS. My wife recommends that one should use grade B maple syrup as a breakfast condiment – we put it on oatmeal – as it tastes more maple-ish.)

  7. Alan c Says:
    March 29th, 2009 at 9:50 pm

    my dad uses a candy thermometer to determine if the syrup is finished.

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