I’ve had friends in Vermont (the largest producer of maple syrup in the United States) say, “Oh! But you must try Vermont’s maple syrup. It truly is the best,” and fellow chefs in Canada have said to me, “Canadian maple syrup is the gold standard, eh?!” Dutifully, and in the interest of fairness, I have purchased the Vermont syrup and Canadian syrup and they truly are delicious. When I was in Alaska, I purchased birch syrup lovingly made by homesteaders Dulce Ben-East and Michael East. For my money, though, you can’t beat the sweet flavors of Ohio maple syrup.
Amazingly, it takes approximately 40 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of 100 percent pure maple syrup (Remember: It’s only the real thing if the packaging notes “100% maple syrup” and Ohio.) For a list of Ohio maple producers, click here. The sap flows from fresh tapped maple trees as temperatures warm during the day, but remain below freezing at night (Ohio’s syrup collecting weather is nearly over). The buckets or tubes that collect the liquid are emptied into a steel evaporator, where the liquid is brought to a boil, then simmered until dense and thick. It is then filtered three times and bottled.
Which Syrup Makes The Grade?
It’s really up to you and your taste buds, and how you’ll be using the syrup. I love the light grade, but there’s always a bottle of medium around for cooking as the bolder tastes of medium and amber withstand the heat of cooking much better than the more delicate grades.
The syrup’s grade is determined by the amount of light that passes through it.
Flavors and Grades:
- Very delicate (No. 1 Extra Light/Grade A Light Amber/Fancy)
- Delicate (No. 1 Light Grade A/Medium Amber)
- Distinct (No. 1 Medium Grade A/Dark Amber)
- Strong (No. 2 Amber/Grade B/Grade B for reprocessing)
- Very strong (No. 3 Dark/Commercial)
Too often relegated to pancakes, maple syrup is fantastic with salty flavors. Following are a few of my favorite Ohio maple syrup recipes (and a few maple facts, in case you find yourself on a quiz show).
Maple Salmon
Serves 2 – 4
Ingredients:
1 long filet of salmon
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
Olive oil
Maple syrup
Freshly cracked black pepper
Directions: Heat oven to 450°F. Wash the salmon and place it, skin side down, in a shallow baking pan. Drizzle the salmon with olive oil and rub it into the flesh. Rub the garlic into the flesh, grind the black pepper over the fish and rub it in, too. Finally, drizzle the salmon with maple syrup and rub it in. Bake in the center of the oven for 8 to 14 minutes or salmon is just done.
Bev’s Bites: Salmon can also be grilled.
Maple Crème Caramel
Serves 6
Ingredients:
½ cup pure Ohio Maple Syrup, Light
½ cup pure Ohio Maple Syrup, Medium
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups heavy cream
Directions: Heat oven to 275°F. Lightly butter 6 (3/4 cup) ramekins and set aside.
Simmer the Light maple syrup in a small saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until syrup is reduced to a thick pouring consistency. Don’t overcook or you will make candy!
Immediately pour maple caramel into prepared ramekins, swirling ramekins to coat sides with some of the caramel. Set aside.
Make the custard: Whisk Medium maple syrup, egg yolks, vanilla, and cinnamon in a medium bowl to combine.
Heat the cream in a medium saucepan just until boiling. Gradually whisk hot cream into yolk mixture, and then divide the mixture among the prepared ramekins.
Set the ramekins into a baking pan and fill the pan with hot water halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Cover the baking pan with foil, carefully transfer to the oven, and bake for 50 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of baking, check custards to be sure the center is set and a little wiggly but not totally cooked.
Remove custards from the water and chill, uncovered, in the refrigerator until cold, at least 4 hours. Custards may be made one day ahead but make sure to cover them once they are cold. Keep refrigerated.
To serve, run a knife around edges of ramekins to loosen custards, and invert onto dessert plates.
Left: maple tapping bucket from Maple Valley Farm in Seville, Ohio/photo by John Shaffer
Maple Facts
It takes about 40 years for a maple tree to grow large enough to tap. A tree 10 inches in diameter is considered minimum size for one tap.
The “normal” maple season lasts four to six weeks, sometimes starting as early as February and lasting into April.
Number of taps per tree: one to three.
Ohio ranks fourth to fifth each year among the 12 maple product producing states in the U.S.
Ohio’s maple producers are men and women of every walk of life. Some are farmers, while others have a totally different occupation than you might think, but they all share the love of the outdoors and a fondness for the spring ritual of maple syrup making.
