Great piece, Ed Behr! Thank you for all that maple lore. One thing you didn't mention (or if you did it skipped past me) but I'm hearing more and more often is a preference for syrup produced the old-fashioned way over wood fires. I have a jug of Vermont syrup brought to me last summer by François de Melogue, that is made the traditional way at Fleury's Maple Hill Farm in Richford. It is dark and deliciously complex and, though I say it as shouldn't, it is superior to what I have been getting in Maine, as fine as that is. Do you know it?
I don't know the syrup from Fleury in Richford. There are still a lot of wood-fired evaporators, often used together with reverse osmosis, to reduce time and the need for fuel (while increasing the use of electricity). Even small concentrations of the sap make an important difference. Some people have been wary of a possible effect on taste (also with the plastic tubing that has replaced buckets), but in experiments at the Proctor Maple Research Center, tasters couldn't find differences in syrup made with RO concentrations up to 21.5 percent before boiling, compared with syrup boiled from the same "raw" sap. The researchers also found no significant difference in the composition of the syrup. But it's important to have syrup made the old way as a point of comparison, though maybe without using lard as an anti-foaming agent. And it's just appealing to have syrup made in the most traditional way.
Great piece, Ed Behr! Thank you for all that maple lore. One thing you didn't mention (or if you did it skipped past me) but I'm hearing more and more often is a preference for syrup produced the old-fashioned way over wood fires. I have a jug of Vermont syrup brought to me last summer by François de Melogue, that is made the traditional way at Fleury's Maple Hill Farm in Richford. It is dark and deliciously complex and, though I say it as shouldn't, it is superior to what I have been getting in Maine, as fine as that is. Do you know it?
I don't know the syrup from Fleury in Richford. There are still a lot of wood-fired evaporators, often used together with reverse osmosis, to reduce time and the need for fuel (while increasing the use of electricity). Even small concentrations of the sap make an important difference. Some people have been wary of a possible effect on taste (also with the plastic tubing that has replaced buckets), but in experiments at the Proctor Maple Research Center, tasters couldn't find differences in syrup made with RO concentrations up to 21.5 percent before boiling, compared with syrup boiled from the same "raw" sap. The researchers also found no significant difference in the composition of the syrup. But it's important to have syrup made the old way as a point of comparison, though maybe without using lard as an anti-foaming agent. And it's just appealing to have syrup made in the most traditional way.
Fascinating! I didn’t know much about maple syrup before reading your splendid piece. I’ll be making that pie recipe pronto!