Real Maple Syrup

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CWS4322

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There was a recipe posted using real maple syrup. Maple syrup comes from the sap of sugar maple trees. To describe it as real maple syrup is wrong. There is only one kind of maple syrup. It is the evaporated sap from the Sugar Maple tree. Everything else is 'maple syrup wannabe.' Having tapped trees since I was in grade school, I find it somewhat ironic that a person who likes to cook doesn't know the difference between maple syrup and the fake stuff. To describe it as "real" shows that the person doesn't get that when you cook with maple syrup, it was harvested from the sap of maple trees. That's like saying real cob-on-the-corn or real peas.
 
There is lots of imitation maple syrup available. I don't buy it, but I have been told that in some recipes it is an acceptable substitute for the real stuff. I don't think there is anything wrong with specifying "real maple syrup". I don't think that shows ignorance on the part of the person writing / saying it. I'm sure there are some people, especially from areas that don't produce maple syrup, that don't understand the difference.
 
I get what you are saying, except for the "cob on the corn." :huh:

I am guessing the recipe is trying to distinguish between syrup made from maple sap from the most common commercial syrup made from corn and artificial flavorings.

I use the term "real maple syrup" all the time, because most people use the artificially maple flavored corn syrup on their pancakes.

CD
 
Maple syrup means maple syrup and I gotta grab a jar off the shelf or out of the fridge. Way, way, way back when, I remember my Mom making fake maple syrup out of brown sugar and water, but that was when I was around 6 yrs. old. Maple syrup means maple syrup.No need to include 'real'. That is redundant. Yeah, you can evap silver maple sap, and it is maple syrup, but not as sweet as maple syrup from sugar maples and you need a lot more sap to get to the syrup stage. I do like birch syrup for certain things. That's a whole 'nother thread.
 
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I agree with casey and taxy... some people don't really read labels at all and even with new laws describing how you can label products doesn't mean there aren't unnoticed artificial labels out there.

A lot of people base purchases on price.

I think it just helps a new cook in that there might be a difference in taste depending on what you use. Like mentioning in a recipe it is better to use "real" butter and not margarine. Or if you must use margarine use the 'hard' not 'soft'. I've also seen several recipes that will state go ahead use either, your preference!
 
I guess I didn't express it well. My maple syrup comes in a mason jar that I have processed. I don't need to be told in a recipe to use "real" maple syrup. There is only one kind of maple syrup--that which flows as sap from a maple tree.
 
You can stop beating us all over the head with your truth about real maple syrup. We all understand your position.
 
I have met people who said they didn't like maple syrup, but it turned out that they had never tried real maple syrup.
 
What's wrong with a recipe stating to use "real maple syrup"? If it just said "maple syrup" one might use maple flavored syrup such as Log Cabin, or Mrs. Butterworth.
 
I have met people who said they didn't like maple syrup, but it turned out that they had never tried real maple syrup.
A friend asked me to bring her back wild rice from MN. I brought her wild rice. It wasn't the cultivated wild rice. She didn't like it--too grassy tasting. I didn't even think about the difference between cultivated and wild wild rice. I brought her real wild rice.
 
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A friend asked me to bring her back wild rice from MN. I brought her wild rice. It wasn't the cultivated wild rice. She didn't like it--too grassy tasting. I didn't even think about the difference between cultivated and wild wild rice. I brought her real wild rice.

If she had been more specific and stated 'cultivated', not 'wild' wild rice, there wouldn't have been any confusion. Sounds like an argument for using 'real maple syrup' so there's no confusion.
 
Recipes don't indicate real vanilla extract. I guess that's my issue. Why specify real maple syrup???????

They probably should. I would guess that most people don't know there is a difference between vanilla extract and imitation vanilla extract. Same goes for maple syrup.

As Andy said, give it a rest. There are FAR more important things to get worked up about than the word "real."

CD
 
What's wrong with a recipe stating to use "real maple syrup"? If it just said "maple syrup" one might use maple flavored syrup such as Log Cabin, or Mrs. Butterworth.
Well, for those who tap their trees and live where maple syrup is available, that would not be an issue. Neither Log Cabin or Mrs. B's have ever been in the houses where I grew up.
 
Just read the label of the maple syrup I have..
Its from St. Johnsbury, VT..
The label reads "100% Pure"..

Perhaps 'pure' is a more understandable word than 'real'.. :ermm:

Ross
 
Well, for those who tap their trees and live where maple syrup is available, that would not be an issue. Neither Log Cabin or Mrs. B's have ever been in the houses where I grew up.

Log Cabin has been my family standard since the 1940's (actually before then but, I was born in 39).. Back then is was contained in a little tin log cabin.. Loved those tin cabins..

Once a year, my grandmother, who was born in Vermont, would receive a bottle of pure maple syrup from family in Vermont.. That bottle was a treasure to us.. I'm not certain that our little Cali fishing village had pure maple syrup at the grocers.. If so, we couldn't afford it, I guess..

To this day, Log Cabin is always on hand..

Ross
 
Well, for those who tap their trees and live where maple syrup is available, that would not be an issue. Neither Log Cabin or Mrs. B's have ever been in the houses where I grew up.

FYI, maple trees don't grow where I live. People have tried to grow them, but they die. People down here mostly use artificially flavored corn syrup on their pancakes.

I buy "real" maple syrup, and pay at least twice as much for it. I also make my own "real" vanilla extract, because I live in the bible belt, and all you can buy is the artificial stuff, because the real stuff has alcohol in it.

So, don't assume that what you grew up with is what everyone grew up with.

CD
 
There was a recipe posted using real maple syrup. Maple syrup comes from the sap of sugar maple trees. To describe it as real maple syrup is wrong. There is only one kind of maple syrup. It is the evaporated sap from the Sugar Maple tree. Everything else is 'maple syrup wannabe.' Having tapped trees since I was in grade school, I find it somewhat ironic that a person who likes to cook doesn't know the difference between maple syrup and the fake stuff. To describe it as "real" shows that the person doesn't get that when you cook with maple syrup, it was harvested from the sap of maple trees. That's like saying real cob-on-the-corn or real peas.

I think it shows that the person *does* know the difference between real maple syrup and artificial maple syrup, and is specifying which s/he suggests using.

There are no artificial alternatives to *corn on the cob or peas, so there's no need to specify which one to use.
 
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