Do you like pancakes with maple syrup? Did you know that Vermont produces more maple syrup than any other state in the United States?The process used to make maple syrup is essentially the same one that Native Americans first used hundreds of years ago.
For four to six weeks in the winter or early spring, farmers collect the sweet-water sap of dormant sugar maple or black maple trees. The sap is extracted through tap holes, which are carefully drilled into the trees and fitted with spouts and buckets or the more modern and common method, plastic tubing. The sweet-water sap is then boiled in pans to evaporate the liquid. The sap only yields one-thirtieth to one-fiftieth the amount of syrup as the original quantity of sap.
Maple syrup can be used to improve a number of dishes in many ways, but mostly it's used to turn pancakes and waffles into delicious treats.