Maple Syrup

[DonRocks]

I don't eat it very much (other than in an occasional dessert, and maybe a thrice-a-year pancake breakfast), but to me, it is one of life's great pleasures.

Read "Our Pancakes Are Saved! Charges Filed In Canadian Maple Syrup Heist" on npr.org, and see if you can make it through the first sentence of the second paragraph without groaning. Love it!

[darkstar965]

I don't know how this thread escaped creation before yesterday. [hitting the ephemeral 'like' button rapidly here].

Maple syrup is another one of those lifelong things. Like milkshakes or chicken parm.

Don's link is funny partly because it describes an almost-nostalgic honest crime. Rather than "mis-labeling" or bait and switch or all the other sorts of fraud and corruption that exist with food, this is just a straight-up theft, albeit of something with lower returns than, say, hitting up a bank.

Maple syrup is something that has always driven me crazy around the country because so many restaurants in so many regions have no idea what it is. So many states and towns think Aunt Jemima or whatever supermarket corn syrup monstrosity is maple syrup.

Real maple syrup is culinary alchemy for so many dishes whether savory or sweet. Syrup producing areas in Vermont, Canada, Wisconsin and elsewhere are like throwbacks to a different era. Tapping the trees. Boiling down the sap to syrup in shacks designed for the purpose out in the woods.

Best is to get it from the source; lots of fun. And, if that's not possible, I still favor the way it was packed and which we always got years ago before the plastic packaging that dominates the market today.

[jayandstacey]

Vermont Maple Syrup - the only food I buy that requires pliers.

[darkstar965]

Vermont Maple Syrup - the only food I buy that requires pliers.

...or a crowbar or ball peen hammer

Need to start a new topic: food products that require heavy-duty tools to open