“Not sure what the grades mean, why do some prefer B?”
Grade B is no more expensive (sometimes cheaper, in fact), but packs way more bang for the buck. It has a distinctive, luscious caramel flavor. It’s fantastic in apple, pear, or nut-based desserts.
The paler maple syrups taste more like simple syrup (white sugar and water). Back in the day when granulated white sugar was an expensive, imported product, sweetness without added flavor was prized. That’s why the palest syrup was called “fancy” or “grade A.” But now that white sugar is dirt cheap and maple is rare and expensive, I only use maple because I WANT the flavor.
The color and flavor difference among grades is like the difference between tea steeped for 10 seconds and tea steeped for 60. It’s the same taste, but much stronger.
http://www.kingarthurflour.com is a great source for baking supplies of all kinds, including different strengths of maple syrup.
I remember in the book The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder, Ma was sad when they ran out of white flour and had to use whole wheat to bake their bread. White flour represented civilization and was prized. Laura remarked that the first time she ate the whole wheat bread, she thought it had a wonderful, nutty flavor.
I grew up with log cabin and Aunt Jemima pancake syrup and have only used maple syrup the last ten years but use it exclusively now. It helps that we’ve been making multiple trips to Vermont, where anything VERMONT MADE! is touted as the best. I made some apple butter with bourbon and maple syrup last year. It’s intense and yummy. I’m not a big pancake fan but use maple syrup with oatmeal sometimes if I’m not using homemade jam. In my neck of the woods, the big debate is what kind of “table syrup” to use with fastnachts… Table syrup is like colored corn syrup with sugar and I think that’s what many Pennsylvanians used in place of pancake syrup.
“White flour represented civilization and was prized.”
For an even better example from Laura Ingalls Wilder, look at Little House on the Prairie. At Christmas, Laura and Mary get cakes made of white flour and sweetened with white sugar. This is such a big deal that Laura nibbles the underside of the cake to see that the inside is white. And when Mr. Edwards is visiting, there’s a little paper sack of light-brown “store” sugar that comes out for company (instead of sweetening coffee with molasses).
(Yes, I pretty much still remember those books word for word.)
Thank you for the ordering links ECmotherx2 and fireandrain! I am going to order as soon as I get home. I looked at the stuff I have that I got from TJ’s and it is grade A. I’m going to order grade B as it seems to be the favorite here.
Someone mentioned not knowing that tomato sauce did not come from a jar… the other side of this is that I never ever had prepared tomato sauce that came in a jar growing up or knew anyone who did. My mom and my aunt always made homemade sauce as do I and as I taught my d’s to do. I will sometime supplement with something like Silver Palate jarred sauce or a local NY brand, Gerardo’s but would never use or eat any tomato sauce that contained corn syrup or sugar.
Real for sure. Where I live, when the sap is starting to flow it is news.! Always a newspaper article each year about how the current winter is effecting the sap flow.
When D2 spent a semester abroad, she stayed with a host family in Geneva ,Switzerland. The host gifts we gave were mostly things representative of where D2 came from. One of the gifts was a small jug of pure maple syrup. The host family had no idea what to do with it even though D2 suggested ideas. It was still unopened bt the time she left. Haha
Here is a link to my old home town’s Maple Syrup Festival in April. It explains about how we make the maple syrup.
All of it is done by volunteers and the money that is made goes back to the community. The also sell the Maple Syrup online.
I always had fake syrup and thought real maple syrup tasted too strong. But I decided to cut out corn syrup and now use maple syrup for sweetening yogurt as well as putting on pancakes, waffles, oatmeal etc. I usually get the dark grade A but will check into the grade B.
Our daughter had the SAME experience with her host family in Spain! But they did like the photo of our family in front of our house in the middle of winter, since they never see snow at the southern tip of the country.
I never would have paid attention to the display of maple syrup aged in whisky barrels at the grocery store today, if it wasn’t for this thread.
( no, I didn’t buy any, I may next time, it’s probably good on oatmeal)
Re: Host families - my kids have made pancakes during their stay so the host family could try the maple syrup. The reception was still fairly mixed for American style pancakes and syrup. Now, they bring maple sugar candy which has been universally well liked and is easier to tote.
@takeitallin All of the TJ’s I’ve been too carry both A and B in larger jugs. The glass bottles are just A. If you have a TJ’s near you, you could just pop by and take a look.
doschicos- she may have brought that too. I can’t remember. I know we have given maple sugar candy as a " hometown" gift for various reasons - business, host, etc. Personally, I do not like maple sugar candy at all. Haha
@Hanna, it warms the cockles of my heart to hear that a woman your age loves those books. It seems that most young women weren’t interested in them. I know I couldn’t get my own daughters to read them, which broke my heart. I think I have read every one of those books at least ten times or more.
Last year, we lost power during an ice storm in Dallas. Our bedroom was 49 degrees, but as a loyal Laura Ingalls Wilder reader, I knew when we went to bed, we’d be okay as long as we piled on the blankets. I was telling my MIL about how warm and cozy it was under all those linens even in spite of the cold, and DH chimed in, “yeah, yeah, we know, it’s all fine, Laura and Mary would wake up with frost on the top of their quilts, but they were were warm and snug underneath the blankets just the same! Who needs central heat when you’ve got a bunch of quilts and a baked potato in your pocket!” Lol.
Our first winter in Maine, my husband and I rented a cottage right on the water. The building was actually on stilts that went down into the water! Only drawback - the heat was electric and there was no insulation! So we set the thermostat at 45 degrees every night. There was a heating unit in the bathroom, so each morning one of us would jump out of bed, turn up the thermostat, then run into the bathroom to warm up as quickly as possible. Ah, the good old days!
“Re: Host families - my kids have made pancakes during their stay so the host family could try the maple syrup. The reception was still fairly mixed for American style pancakes and syrup.”
I had a French roommate my junior year in Paris. When I went home with her one weekend, her mom “surprised” me with American pancakes with butter and maple syrup for dessert. Keep in mind that this was after a full course traditional French dinner. Yes, pancakes for dessert. I ate them to be polite, but I was so full that I thought I was going to explode.
I come down on the maple syrup side. I grew up with maple syrup. I love it on top of my hot nine-grain cereal with mixed berries and nutmeg. Delicious!
"@Hanna, it warms the cockles of my heart to hear that a woman your age loves those books. It seems that most young women weren’t interested in them. "
You’re warming my heart by classifying me as so young! All my friends and I loved those books in the 80s. We’re all in our early 40s now. I just gave my seven-year-old niece a box set for Christmas.
