One good thing, maybe the only good thing, about March weather in the Midwest is that it's prime time for making maple syrup. Maple trees are tapped to make syrup in late February and March, when temperatures consistently rise above freezing during the day and drop to below freezing at night. This weather pattern causes sap to flow throughout maple trees, allowing them to be tapped. The sap is then boiled to make syrup, which can be used for many delicious purposes.
Native Americans were the first to convert maple sap into sugar and syrup. Early settlers in the Americas also learned to convert the tree sap into a sweetener. At this time, honey was rare in the area and both molasses and cane sugar came all the way from West Indian plantations. Many settlers decided to make their own sweetener rather than support slavery and pay the high shipping costs for molasses and sugar. The 1803 Farmer's Almanac advised settlers to "make your own sugar and send not to the Indies for it. Feast not on...toil, pain and misery."
Today, pure maple syrup obviously tastes the best but is also the most expensive. Some stores sell less-expensive table syrups that consist of maple syrup mixed with other ingredients like corn or agave syrups. I personally believe there is little point in even bothering with the big-name table syrups that are mostly corn syrup mixed with artificial maple flavoring.
It was on a trip to Montreal with my husband Joe that I first learned about the wonders of pure maple syrup. Nearly every souvenir shop there sold bottles of maple syrup and candies made with maple sugar. We wandered into a bakery that specialized in maple-flavored treats. And then there was the vegetarian buffet restaurant where we first tried maple syrup pie. After we returned home, Joe found this pie recipe online so that we could replicate the Montreal experience back home in Chicago.
While maple syrup is usually associated with Canada or Vermont, there are some maple farms in the Midwest. Funk's Grove and Hogback Haven maple farms are both located here in Illinois. Hogback Haven is near Orangeville, just on this side of the Illinois-Wisconsin border, and Funks Grove is located off of historic Route 66 near Bloomington. Both of these farms can be day-trip destinations for Chicagoans. Pure maple syrup and other maple treats can be purchased directly from Funks Grove (www.funkspuremaplesirup.com). I suggest buying maple syrup now while it's fresh and before supplies run out.
Maple Syrup Pie
*Based on a Colonial-era recipe found in The Canadiana Cookbook: A Complete Heritage of Canadian Cooking by Mme. Jehane Benoit
Ingredients:
1 c. pure maple syrup
1/2 c. water plus 2 tbsp. cold water
3 tbsp. cornstarch
1/4 c. chopped walnuts or pecans
1-2 tbsp. butter or margarine
2 pre-made pie crusts (frozen pie crusts are fine) or enough dough to make 2 pie crusts
Directions:
Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Boil the maple syrup with 1/2 c. water in a small saucepan for 5 minutes. In a separate, small bowl, use a spoon to blend the cornstarch with 2 tbsp. of cold water. Then add the cornstarch mixture to the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, until smooth (see photo). Add the butter and nuts. Remove from heat and let mixture cool.
If using homemade dough, press enough dough for one crust into pie pan. Pour the maple syrup mixture on top of the crust in the pie pan. Then roll out enough dough or take your second pre-made pie crust and place it on top of the pie. Cut several slits in the top layer of dough. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Remove from oven and let the pie cool thoroughly before slicing and eating. To have a warm slice of maple syrup pie, heat it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Bon appetit!
Sources:
The Canadiana Cookbook: A Complete Heritage of Canadian Cooking by Mme. Jehane Benoit (Pagurian Press, 1970).
Maple Syrup Cookbook: Over 100 Recipes for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner by Ken Haedrich (Storey Publishing, 2001).
"Who Needs Vermont?" by Joseph Ruzich in the Chicago Tribune (March 8, 2006).
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