Maple and her syrup

So our Canadian friend, Danielle, recommended we get down and dirty with a good solid maple syrup breakfast at the Maple Syrup Festival which was happening at Bronte Creek Park. So off the three of us went and started off with a typical Canadian Breakfast of pancakes, bacon and syrup - yes you read that right - syrup and meat together - YUM!

After our very tasty breakies we got picked up by a John Deer tractor and taken down for a tour of how maple syrup is produced, and talk about a lesson for me... who knew it came from maple trees?

According to our tour guide - Ontario is the only area in Canada which can produce maple syrup - and the crazier thing is that there is a little black dot on the red part on the map which is really the only area which produces maple syrup - which explains the costs of the product.

Maple syrup is a syrup usually made from the xylem sap of sugar maple, red maple, or black maple trees, although it can also be made from other maple species. In cold climates, these trees store starch in their trunks and roots before the winter; the starch is then converted to sugar that rises in the sap in the spring. Maple trees can be tapped by boring holes into their trunks and collecting the exuded sap. The sap is processed by heating to evaporate much of the water, leaving the concentrated syrup.

Its takes approximately 40 litres of SAP to produce 1 litre of Maple syrup. 40 Litres is the equivalent of the big plastic container on the left.

"Tap that tree" had us rolling on the floor laughing - sick sense of humour...

 The natives discovered maple syrup back in the day. I was very struck by how exactly the found out about the sap in trees. My first image was a bunch of people running around sucking trees - which made me laugh. But thanks to their discovery we today have a lovely sweet syrup. The North American natives knew to put hot rocks which had been heated by a fire into their version of a bowl (a hollowed out tree) and let the heat evaporate water from the sap.

Mizz weather on the day we went - but it was so nice being out on a farm

The colonisers then cottoned on to the natives maple syrup and tried to streamline the process with metal pots - more information in the picture below.

Besides finding out that my breakfast came from a tree - I got to see some cows, pigs, a beautiful peacock (which is not native to North America) and a great tour of the Bronte Family home which was built in 1899 and which had been restored to the original farm house. Historic furnishings have been displayed in a way that reflects their original placement and usage in a home.

 

 Seriously got my farm kick... smells and all

The above pictures really made me think about my siblings - Piano for you Dax and the old school stove for you Tris!



Pump your own water into the house. Apparently this was pretty modern to the house in that time

  

Another crazy Canadian tradition - Maple Syrup Taffy


Taffy is the process is where thick melted maple syrup liquid is poured in a molten state upon clean snow whereupon the cold causes it to rapidly thicken. Once sufficiently hardened the candy can be picked up and eaten. Wow - a VERY sweet candy - and a different texture. Was a nice thing to try.