PeteSpencer wrote:..
And maple syrup with everything , no doubt............
<continuing drift in protest
>
The proper (Canadian, dark) stuff is nectar as part of the right meal (eg on proper pancakes)
But yes, some Canadians use it with some ingredients with which I can't stand it!
One of my DND Quebecois colleagues had a private 'sugar bush' (tree lot) in a wooded area North of Ottawa in Gatineau. In spring there would be an office work party to do the 'tapping' and initial boil (outside, in the late snow, with fires also being used for suitable cooking including a final course of pancakes with last year's further reduced syrup). The owner knew which trees were tappable after a suitable number of fallow seasons. ISTR there was also drinking involved ..
.. Oh, and nearly all the conversation was in French, which somewhat confounded my US colleagues
The owner would then take the reduced volume back to his shack in large plastic containers for much more boiling/reduction for storage for at least a year in smaller glass vessels, which would become payment for the work party. The result was naturally very dark, much darker than any in the stores unless artificial colouring was used (always check the ingredients on the label!). As no money changed hands it was outside the scope of any Quebec or Federal regulation.
As the Quebec Provincial motto says: Je Me Souviens
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/ ... ec.svg.png</>
(mere guide at) Jet Age Museum, Gloucestershire Airport
http://www.jetagemuseum.org/TripAdvisor Excellence Award 2015
http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction ... gland.html