History of Maple Syrup
Pure Maine maple syrup with a hint of the great north woods in it, has been brightening the flavor of fine, downeast food since long before the colonists arrived.
Pure Maine maple syrup with a hint of the great north woods in it, has been brightening the flavor of fine, downeast food since long before the colonists arrived.
Now, hundreds of years later, the quality is excellent, the degree of sweetness is fixed by law, and the uniquely delicious taste still varies as it always has. Sometimes the syrup is dark and rich, sometimes pale gold and delicate. It all depends on the soil and terrain, the wind and the weather, just like wine.
Maine’s maple syrup producers, like winemakers, take a lot of personal pride in their product. The art of making sugar and syrup from the sap of the maple tree (Acer saccharum) was developed by Native Americans of the Northeast. For them it was the all-purpose seasoning, used as we might use salt today. It was also one of their staple foods, a primary source of nourishment in the early spring season, so valuable and portable it was often used as money. Important festivals celebrated the sugar harvest and there was much merriment and feasting when the last elm bark bucket had been emptied and a year’s supply of sugar safely made. European settlers were quick to learn about this tasty natural resource, and they brought something very important to trade for the Indian’s knowledge – iron kettles. Until the Europeans arrived, there was no fireproof vessels in in Eastern North America. The Indians boiled the syrup by dropping red-hot stones into thick wooden containers full of sap.
Iron kettles made the work of sugar boiling much easier (and the product a lot cleaner). They bubbled steadily, every spring, throughout the early centuries of our history, providing the self-sufficient New England farmers with an ample supply of home-grown sweetness. It was much cheaper and easier to get than imported cane sugar. And cane sugar, furthermore, was part of the chain of slavery. Maple sugar, being made by free men, was better suited to the Yankee temperament.
Of course, appreciation for maple sugar went way beyond New England. Thomas Jefferson tried several times to establish a “sugar bush” at Monticello, and there were even a few attempts to start a maple industry in Europe. They all failed. The trees grew all right, but they yielded no sweetness. The sugar in maple sap only appears where warm, sunny days and below-freezing nights follow each other for days on end, as they do in Maine’s long, slow spring.
More articles on Maple Syrup & Products
55 Years as a Maple Producer
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25 Years as a Maple Producer
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Vestibulum molestie erat libero. Sed sodales eget quam et placerat. Nunc ultricies tortor vitae placerat posuere. Vestibulum vitae consequat ligula, eget auctor ligula. Cras vel diam vitae nisl hendrerit eleifend. Aliquam gravida ultricies fringilla. Phasellus ut massa adipiscing, eleifend sem quis, viverra sapien.
Suspendisse ullamcorper interdum sem, in sagittis arcu mollis a. Nulla fringilla interdum est vel rutrum. Cras luctus tortor a turpis facilisis, tempor hendrerit nibh bibendum. Ut ipsum elit, venenatis ac enim at, viverra pretium sapien. Sed placerat feugiat tortor, eget aliquet est. Maecenas feugiat mauris mi, et congue arcu vestibulum dapibus.
34 Years as a Maple Producer
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Vestibulum molestie erat libero. Sed sodales eget quam et placerat. Nunc ultricies tortor vitae placerat posuere. Vestibulum vitae consequat ligula, eget auctor ligula. Cras vel diam vitae nisl hendrerit eleifend. Aliquam gravida ultricies fringilla. Phasellus ut massa adipiscing, eleifend sem quis, viverra sapien.
Suspendisse ullamcorper interdum sem, in sagittis arcu mollis a. Nulla fringilla interdum est vel rutrum. Cras luctus tortor a turpis facilisis, tempor hendrerit nibh bibendum. Ut ipsum elit, venenatis ac enim at, viverra pretium sapien. Sed placerat feugiat tortor, eget aliquet est. Maecenas feugiat mauris mi, et congue arcu vestibulum dapibus.
The Maine Maple Producers Association welcomes you to join Maine’s Maple Syrup Producers, statewide, as they celebrate Maine Maple Sunday.
Our first year hosting a Maple Sugar House at the Topsham Fair. We will have maple production tools on display and be able to explain the process. Producers will have maple products available for sale each day.
The Maine Maple Producers is always looking for new and creative recipes that utilize Maine Maple Syrup or Maple Sugar.
Scientists from around the world share the results of their research that expands the science of maple’s potential impact on several areas affected by chronic inflammation.