Maple Syrup

The history of maple syrup is a long one: it is said that the early settlers in Canada learned about sugar maples from Native Americans. There are numerous claims explaining the original discovery. Some say that a chief threw his tomahawk at a tree, sap started to run out of it, and the chief's wife prepared venison in the flavorful liquid.

Others say that the Native Americans accidentally stumbled upon sap that was running from a broken branch of the maple tree. From the 17th century, farmers started to drill tiny holes in the trees (which they called sugar bushes) between winter and spring.

Every few days, they would collect the sap and boil off the water, so that they were left with a sweet, golden-brown liquid known as maple syrup. Today, maple syrup is widely consumed throughout Canada and the United States, mostly used with pancakes, waffles, and oatmeal.

It is also used in baking as a natural sweetener, and it is often praised for its delicate, unique flavor. In the United States, the state of Vermont is a fairly large producer of maple syrup.