Police make arrests in Quebec maple syrup heist.
Easily my favourite headline from last year, this Dec. 18 story in the Globe and Mail demonstrates that we take maple syrup seriously in Canada. Very seriously. At least, Canadians from back east.
When Patrick Demers moved to Whistler, he noticed a dearth of traditional maple syrup on the West Coast. Demers grew up in Timmins, Ont. and recalls spending spring with his uncle and other family members, tapping the local maple trees. The outings would culminate in sugaring off parties, where the sap is reduced through boiling and then cooled on the snow.
When Demers met visitors to Whistler and asked them what they thought of Canada, it came down to two things: snow and maple syrup.
Thats when it hit him. A family tradition Demers had taken for granted tapping syrup was just a stereotype to most Canadian visitors, as well as most West Coasters.
Determined to bring this experience to B.C., he built his first maple shack out of recycled lumber, bought a few litres of syrup and ice, and went to market in Whistler. When he opened people lined up for their first taste of maple syrup on snow.
Maple syrup on snow actually happens naturally, explained Demers. When the wind breaks off maple branches, the tree weeps sap, which falls onto the ground and forms natural taffy. Tapping the trees and boiling the sap makes a product that is sweeter and thicker, but the natural taffy happens all by itself in the forest, and can be enjoyed as it is.
For the last few years, Demers has been on the hunt for local syrup trees. He started to hear stories almost legends of loggers cutting down B.C. maples and the sap spewing all over them. There had to be sugar in those maples.
It turns out that the stories were true. Our local bigleaf maples are a cousin of the sugar maples back east. The sap is slightly less sweet, but just as plentiful.
Along with maple products derived from Ontario and Quebec syrup, Demers has commenced production of maple syrup from big leaf maples. While sugar maples take 40 litres of sap to make one litre of syrup, bigleaf maples take approximately 60 litres, so its more labour intensive. Demers reports that the market here in B.C. is virtually untapped, so to speak.
Most people in B.C. dont believe I can get syrup from their trees, and are shocked, Demers said. He now works with a number of property owners, exchanging syrup for the right to tap their trees.
But as more people become aware of this local resource, bigleaf enthusiasts are growing in number. Earlier this month, the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan held its annual Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival.
According to Demers, bigleaf syrup is sweet, delicious and a little more caramel flavoured than sugar maple, but at 66 per cent sugar content, its the real thing.
My sweet little sample of local bigleaf maple syrup is slightly more amber coloured than my usual Costco maple syrup. Its a thick, intense and viscous syrup with a round, caramel mouth feel this stuff is freaking fantastic! At last, a syrup for locavores and 100-mile dieters in B.C.
To purchase Demers Maple Sugar Shack products and see which farmers markets hell be selling his wares, go to maplessugarshack.com.
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