Dip the Apple in the Maple Syrup
Blessings, D'var Torah, Eco-Kashrut, Fair Trade, Family & Kids, Farming, Food History, Food Writing, Fresh Frum the Kitchen, Holidays, Humor, On The Web, Recipes, Spirituality
As we sit down to our Rosh Hashana meals, all eyes go to the challah/apple ceremoniously (or should I say unceremoniously?) dipped in honey. The kids begin to sing that lifeless ditty to the tune of Oh My Darlin’ Clementine “dip the apple in the honey, make a bracha loud and clear. . . . “ (I can’t recall the rest because we banned that song from our house more than a decade ago). Much ink has been spilled (mostly by the honey lobby) perpetuating this custom of dubious and suspect origin in the name of sweetness for the upcoming year. In keeping with the spirit of the New Jewish Food Movement, perhaps we should critically re-examine this custom and explore alternatives. As a maple syrup producer, may I humbly suggest using maple syrup.
At the outset, given the mystical underpinnings of the “simana d’milsa” – the Rosh Hashana symbols, the kabbalah of honey is worth taking a look at. There’s a certain degree of gevurah (severity) in the entire honey making/collecting process what with 50,000 angry bees buzzing about as if to say “you toucha our honey – we stinga you nose” whereas maples represent the ultimate in chesed (lovingkindness) giving freely of not only their wood and shelter but their sap - their very essence.
Unlike the majestic maples which have their roots firmly anchored in the ground and their branches reaching for the heavens, bees have a real problem thinking out of the box. Even the name “hives” conjures up images of some negative reaction to a food we shouldn’t have eaten. Honey comes in “frames” again an allusion to the inability of the poor bee to transcend his boxlike existence. Sap on the other hand drips lyrically into buckets - conical enclosures open at the top in an upwards spiral reminiscent of the original tzimtzumim (contractions) which accompanied the creation of the world according to the kabbalists of yore.
Plus, bees are racist. It’s true – they don’t like black (I’ve been told it’s because they genetically associate it with the nose of a bear – I learned that the hard way when I went out to my hive one day wearing a black velvet kippah!) Maples on the other hand are warm, embracing and non-discriminatory, offering shade and comfort to all.
Hives are hot and overcrowded and festering with anger and resentment, just waiting to boil over into a rumble. They are drab, propolis encrusted tenements with everyone wearing the same bad suit. Moreover, the hive is separated rigidly into a caste system of workers, drones and a queen. Autocracy is the coin of the realm. Maples, on the other hand, really know how to let their freak flags fly. There are tall maples, short maples, red maples, silver maples, sugar maples, even Japanese maples! They grow at random in the forest on their own schedule – you can’t rush a maple no matter how much you try.
The bee is also the world’s greatest procrastinator. While the maple is champing at the bit to be the first in the spring to give forth fruit, barely waiting for the snows to melt, the bees are huddled together in an apian ménage a 50,000 waiting for warmer weather. (Truth be told, there is a nascent self-improvement movement among the bees. I’ve even seen little motivational posters in the hives bearing such witticisms as “wake up and smell the flowers” and “anything for the buzz”).
Then there’s the music. When you get near a hive, you first hear it – that angry, mindless, whining buzz intoning “danger, danger, run the other way! I’d turn back if I were you.” The pastoral maple however exudes a musical symphony with every drop of sap resonating through the snow festooned forest. It’s beyond kum-ba-ya (incidentally, my colleague Howard Cohen once asked me why I was so anti kum-ba-ya. He told me that the phrase was actually Hebrew – Kum Ba Y-ah and meant “Arise, for the Lord cometh” I told him it was indeed Hebrew but that it really meant Kum - Baaya “Let’s go – there’s a problem” but I digress).
Finally, there’s the whole honey – money thang. Selling bottles of syrup to raise money for Israel trips and the like. That’s like so yesterday. Maple is on the cutting edge of Jewish philanthropy. Just check out www.sweetwhisperfarms.com/rockmaple They don’t say “Rock Maple means Just Maple” for nothing! So this Rosh Hashana, when you’re gathered around the table, break out a bottle of Vermont Grade A Dark Amber and sing along with your kids:
“Dip the apple in the honey,
Make a bracha loud and clear.
But if you use maple syrup,
You will have a sweeter year”
Shana Tova and a year full of “sweet” blessings from Shlomo, Tova, Rivky and me.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Print This Post
Email This Post
11 Responses to “Dip the Apple in the Maple Syrup”
-
David Sax Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 10:46 ambeing Canadian I’m actually shocked that we’ve never done this. Though to be honest we do eat apples and maple syrup throughout the year, usually atop pancakes or french toast or baked together or mmmmmmm
-
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 10:51 amDavid? David? Can you hear me? Just the thought of the apple and maple seems to have sent you into a gastronomic swoon. Ladies and Gentlemen, I rest my case.
-
msk Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 10:59 amGreat post. I’ll have to try this tonight with my local Pennsylvania-produced Grade B syrup. One small quibble: Grade A syrup is lovely and sweet, but to me contains so much less maple flavor than the darker, richer Grade B. Once in Vermont we bought some syrup from the kind people at Neighborly Farms (a dairy farm) that they called Grade C that was too good to describe. I might go into the same swoon as David just thinking about it.
-
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
September 12th, 2007 at 11:29 amsshhh - soon everyone will want grade C! I agree with you wholeheartedly. The label game (Fancy Grade A Grade B) is only a function of color - it’s like buying a CD because you like the cover art! The truth is that we sell the Fancy to the tourists but if you look in the fridge of any good Vermonter there’s a bottle of black C grade (I don’t think you can legally sell it) bursting with maple flavor. The way I look at it, if you want sugar, buy Domino’s at 19 cents a pound - if you want maple, you want it to taste like maple! Grade A Dark Amber is a great multipurpose syrup - it is still refined enough to bring out the best in a delicate vanilla ice cream and sturdy enough to hold its own in a mix or recipe - this Rosh Hashana - grilled maple squash with a drop of vanilla and dusted lightly with cinnamon.
For all you maple wannabes, why not join me at the Hazon Food Conference Friday nite Maple Tisch where we might have a few different grades of syrup to try (plus my special single malt maple, but I digress) shabbos and maple - How sweet it is! -
Rachel Says:
September 13th, 2007 at 7:29 amThank you for this wonderful post! We live in western Massachusetts, quite near the Vermont border, and a local farmer taps our trees each spring. I take great pleasure out of serving an erev Rosh Hashanah meal featuring as many local foods as is possible (last night: the last of the local zucchini, sauteed and served with mint in the Sicilian Jewish style) but had never contemplated apples & maple syrup. Next year!
-
cyberdov Says:
September 17th, 2007 at 5:15 amSo where can one get grade C - or even grade B? I have been keeping my eyes open for a few years now in local stores (NYC area) but have yet to see it.
-
Howard Nadel Says:
September 17th, 2007 at 12:22 pmInteresting study, but was it IRB approved
-
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
September 17th, 2007 at 12:27 pmcyberdov - Grade B - we’ll be G-d willing canning some in the near future so you might want to stay tuned. Grad C - you’d need to be friends with a maple farmer to get some:)
Howard - what is the IRB?
-
stacey Says:
September 19th, 2007 at 7:51 amcyberdov - I bought a gigantic container of vermont grade B at the union square farmer’s market. The maple syrup ppl are there on Fri & Sat and the jug says “deep mountain”.
Rabbi Shmuel - yum! As a vegan, my preference in maple syrup in, on or around everything.
-
Rabbi Shmuel Says:
September 19th, 2007 at 9:20 amGrade B is usually available around the end of the season (when the sugar content of the sap drops it takes longer to evaporate and it caramelizes (turns darker) hence the color)
as a vegan you should be doubly alert to only buy syrup with a hechsher - some producers (though most don’t) still use porkfat to defoam but more critically, many producers cook (eg hotdogs, kielbasi) in the sap pan during the long nights boiling (I didn’t know that either until I started sugaring) so know where your syrup is from and what’s going on in it!
I may bli neder bring some “C” grade syrup to the food conference for my maple tisch (tasting only!) black as molasses and sweet as. . . well, um, er. . . maple syrup!!
-
Hillary Says:
September 19th, 2007 at 3:49 pmIn case you were dying to know what the rest of the song’s words were, it goes:
“Dip the apple in the honey,
say a bracha loud and clear.
Shana tova u’metukah
Have a happy, sweet new year!”Hehe, I’m sure you were sick of it though but I couldn’t resist, because we just taught that song to my 1 year old niece. She loves it!
