- Maple syrup is made from the sweet tree sap of the maple tree. Ancient Native American tribes discovered that the high level of sucrose in the maple sap was a nutritious energy booster and provided sweet flavoring for cooking. The Algonquins would make an incision into the trunk of the maple tree, then insert reeds to draw out the sap into bark buckets. The Algonquins introduced "sinzibuckwud," or syrup drawn from wood, to early European settlers, who quickly improved the process of extracting the sap from the trees. Farmers in the New England area began harvesting maple syrup in the winters when their farms were not producing. By the mid-1800s, New England and eastern Canada had emerged as the top maple syrup producers. Today, advances in technology make the collection, preparation and distribution process much more streamlined, but the basics are not much different than they were centuries ago.
- It takes 40 liters of maple sap to create 1 liter of maple syrup. One maple tree will produce about 40 liters of sap during the sugar season, from February to April. A tree must be at least 25 cm around to be "tapped" for sap, and it must be at least 40 years old as well.
- Canada produces the most maple syrup, more than 80 percent of the world's supply, with the province of Quebec leading the way with more than 6 million gallons per year. In the United States, states like Vermont, Maine and New York are top producers.
- Maple syrup produced in Canada is subject to a grading system, much like eggs or beef. The grade is assigned to a particular syrup largely based on color: Dark, Amber, Medium, Light and Extra Light. Dark, or #3 grade, is usually used as a flavoring for commercial production. Amber is generally used as a baking syrup and Medium is used for cooking or glazing. Pancake syrup is graded as either Light or Extra Light. In the United States, there are only two categories or grades: "A" and "B." Pancake syrup is a Grade "A," while Grade "B" is generally more of a commercially used syrup.
- During the severe rations of World War II, United States citizens were encouraged to use maple syrup as a sweetener rather than more expensive refined sugar. Several cookbooks and recipes generated around that time list pancake syrup as the sweetening agent in baking and cooking.
- Not all pancake syrup is maple syrup. There are many maple-flavored syrups on the market that are produced cheaply from corn syrup, and may contain as little as 1 percent of maple syrup. Instead, these false pancake syrups are flavored with fenugreek, a spice with a strong flavor similar to maple syrup.
