21 Magnificent (and Surprising!) Ways to Use Maple Syrup (2024)

FAQs

What is the story behind the maple syrup in the Iroquois? ›

One Iroquois legend tells how Chief Woksis had thrown his tomahawk into a maple tree one late winter evening. After he removed it the following morning, the weather turned sunny and warm. Sap began to flow from the cut in the tree, and drip down into a container at the base of the tree.

Syrup produced from tree sap is one of the healthiest, all-natural sweeteners. Pure maple syrup tastes much better than artificial “pancake syrups.” You can take pride and satisfaction in producing your own sweetener.

Native Americans even have legends about how maple sugar was discovered. The story has it that Chief Woksis of the Iroquois found the sweet (syrup) when he threw his tomahawk at a maple tree in the cold of winter. The next day, the sun warmed the sap inside the tree, and from the hole sprung forth the tasty syrup.

Early myths about maple are widespread through the Eastern Woodland Indians, including the Abenaki, Iroquois, and Micmac (Mi'kmaq). According to legend, the Creator had at first made life too easy for his People by filling the maple trees with a thick syrup that flowed year-round.

The Maple syrup is an excellent alternative to sugar in hot drinks such as tea, herbal teas, coffee or milk but also in juices and syrups. It is also used in mixology, to give a pleasant sweet note (but not caloric) and colored a co*cktail alcoholic or non-alcoholic.

Does Maple Syrup Go Bad? As it turns out, maple syrup does have a shelf life once opened, and mold is not as uncommon as we thought. StillTasty.com indicates that 100 percent pure maple syrup should keep for a year unopened in the pantry, a year opened in the refrigerator, and indefinitely in the freezer.

While it lacks vitamins, maple syrup is rich in certain minerals, such as manganese. It also has antioxidants that may offer health benefits, such as lowering cholesterol and supporting brain health. But, its high sugar content can lead to tooth decay and further health problems for people with diabetes.

It might be sweet and delicious, but maple syrup also contains 54 beneficial compounds and is an unexpected source of essential minerals, including calcium, zinc, magnesium and potassium. The unique polyphenol, quebecol, is found in maple syrup.

Maple trees can live to 200 years and beyond and have been tapped for 150 years or more. The sugar maple has the highest sugar content in its sap of any of the maple species. It averages in the 2.0-2.5 range but can vary from tree to tree and from day to day even in the same sugarbush.

Maple syrup can be drizzled over sweet or savoury foods, such as pancakes, waffles, bacon and eggs, or in stews and desserts.

Why is maple syrup so valuable? ›

Maple syrup can thus be considered a rare commodity, since it takes many resources and time to produce and is rarely made in significant amounts at once. Fourth of all, the quality of the container in which pure maple syrup is poured usually suggests that of the syrup itself.

Adding maple syrup to your coffee will give it a unique flavor and sweetness that will leave you wanting more. Not only is maple syrup an excellent way to add flavor and sweetness to your coffee, but maple syrup is good for you with naturally occurring minerals and antioxidants.

Maple syrup has been significant to Indigenous peoples for thousands of years, helping to sustain them. It was used for multiple purposes: as a sweetener, an anesthetic, to preserve meats through the process of curing, and eventually as a trade item.

Long before the arrival of European explorers and French missionaries, Abenaki peoples followed a multi-step process for collecting and condensing sugar maple sap into sweeteners; a process refined and passed down orally from one generation to the next.

To get maple sugar, Native Americans put the sap in wide, shallow bark vessels and left it out to freeze. This would separate the water from the sugar, and they would then remove the ice. As time went on, new and improved ways to process maple sugar emerged.