Maple syrup is usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter. The starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. The Canadian province of Quebec is by far the largest producer, responsible for 70 percent of the world’s output.
About Maple syrup in brief
Maple syrup is usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in late winter and early spring. Maple syrup was first made and used by the indigenous peoples of North America, and the practice was adopted by European settlers. The Canadian province of Quebec is by far the largest producer, responsible for 70 percent of the world’s output. Canadian exports of maple syrup in 2016 were C$487 million, with Quebec accounting for some 90 percent of this total. Sucrose is the most prevalent sugar in maple syrup. In Canada, syrups must be made exclusively from maple sap to qualify as maple syrup and must also be at least 66 percent sugar. In the U.S., a syrup must be make almost entirely from maple syrup to be labelled as \”maple\”, though states such as Vermont and New York have more restrictive definitions. maple syrup is often used as a condiment for pancakes, waffles, French toast, oatmeal or porridge. It is also used as an ingredient in baking and as a sweetener or flavouring agent. Culinary experts have praised its unique flavour, although the chemistry responsible is not fully understood. The maple sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup. Most trees can produce 20 to 60 litres of sap per season.
The red maple has a shorter season because it buds earlier than sugar and black maple, which alters the flavour of the sap. A few other species of maple are also sometimes used as sources of sap for producing maple syrup, including the box elder or Manitoba maple, the silver maple, and the bigleaf maple. In the Southeastern United States, Florida sugar maple is occasionally used for maple syrup production. The black maple is included as a subspecies or variety in a more broadly viewed concept of A. saccharum, the sugar maple by some botanists. There are no authenticated accounts of how maple syrupProduction and consumption began, but various legends exist; one of the most popular involves maple sap being used in place of water to cook venison served to a chief. Aboriginal tribes developed rituals around sugar-making, celebrating the Sugar Moon with a Maple Dance. The Algonquians recognized maple sap as a source of energy and nutrition. European settlers and fur traders were involved in harvesting maple sap, rather than making incisions in the trunks with bark augers. During the 17th and 18th centuries, processed maple sap was used primarily as source of concentrated sugar, in both liquid crystallized-solid form and as cane, as cane had to be imported from the West Indies to be used as sugar cane, and to be sold as maple sugar. Syrup makers typically began to operate at the start of the spring thaw in regions with sufficiently large numbers of maples.
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This page is based on the article Maple syrup published in Wikipedia (as of Dec. 03, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
