Maple syrup is a surprisingly healthy product that came to Europe thanks to the discovery of America; local Indian tribes made it in large quantities. Unlike potatoes, pumpkins and corn, maple syrup is not as popular in Europe and Asia as it is in Canada. The reason for this is the complexity of the collection and preparation of syrup, but the benefits of this product have attracted worldwide attention.
Material Content:
- 1 History of Maple Syrup
- 2 What is maple syrup made from?
- 3 Taste and appearance
- 4 Composition, nutritional value and calorie content of maple syrup
- 5 Maple syrup: benefits and harms
- 6 How to make syrup at home?
- 7 The use of syrup in cooking
- 8 How to choose maple syrup?
- 9 How to replace when cooking dishes?
History of Maple Syrup
The first written mention of maple syrup dates back to the 60s of the 18th century. The homeland of the product is Canada. In this country, a lot of sugar, red and black maples grow from the juice of which they make sweet syrup.
Europeans borrowed the technology for making syrup from tree sap from local Indians, who made it long before Columbus discovered America. The production of sugar from sugarcane was cheaper and simpler, but it could not completely displace the tradition of collecting maple juice and making syrup.
Currently, most of the world maple syrup production is concentrated in Canada. This is a national American product that is very popular in its homeland. Syrup is added to pastries, watered pancakes and waffles, prepare drinks and various dishes. Maple leaf is depicted on the flag of the country.
What is maple syrup made from?
Maple syrup is made from tree sap. Not all maple varieties are suitable for its production.Only red, sugar, black and holly maples contain a sufficient amount of sugar in the juice.
On the shelves of Russian stores you can often find fake - ordinary sugar syrup, colored and flavored in a special way. It does not have the beneficial properties inherent in a natural product.
In the Leningrad Region several years ago, the production of maple syrup from the juice of acutifolia, which grow here in abundance, began. The difficulty is that only mature trees are suitable for collecting juice. To achieve the required trunk size, maple needs to grow 30 years.
In order to open production, you need a real maple forest, given the small yield of syrup from juice. The juice collection season is limited to two spring months, they cannot be missed, it is impossible to make natural maple syrup at other times of the year.
Taste and appearance
Maple syrup differs in density, transparency, color intensity. In America, it is conditionally divided into two types - Canadian and Vermont. The quality of the Canadian product, its purity and naturalness is monitored by a specially created commission.
Maple syrup is transparent from amber yellow to dark brown, sometimes with a reddish tint. It has a woody flavor and a special aroma.
By consistency and appearance, maple syrup resembles liquid acacia honey or light jam syrup. This is used by some enterprising manufacturers, producing ordinary sugar with various additives under the guise of maple syrup.
Composition, nutritional value and calorie content of maple syrup
The chemical composition of maple syrup determines its sweet taste and health benefits. 100 g of product contains 260 kcal. There are no proteins and dietary fiber in the syrup; it contains: 0, 1 g of fat, 67 g of carbohydrates and almost 33 g of water.
It contains a lot of minerals and vitamins:
- calcium;
- magnesium;
- manganese;
- iron;
- copper;
- selenium;
- zinc;
- B vitamins
The syrup also contains antioxidants similar to those found in flax seed, red wine and fresh berries.
Regular consumption of several teaspoons of maple syrup helps prevent colds, strokes, heart attacks, depression, and chronic fatigue. The use of pancreatic syrup helps in the prevention of diabetes.
Maple syrup: benefits and harms
This healthy treat can be compared to natural honey. Syrup has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the heart and the state of blood vessels, has an antibacterial and antitumor effect.
Its health benefits have been studied by physicians and nutritionists, and syrup helps:
- strengthen the immune system;
- reduce the risk of cancer;
- increase potency;
- stop the development of atherosclerosis and diabetes;
- improve heart function.
The syrup contains few purines and oxalates, so it does not cause allergies. This makes it useful for people with metabolic disorders, living in environmentally unfavorable conditions and working in hazardous industries.
Only excessive consumption of syrup can bring harm, since it contains a lot of glucose. It is advisable to eat no more than 50 grams of this sweet product per day, adding to tea, or to a bite with pastries.
How to make syrup at home?
To prepare natural maple syrup, you need juice of acutifolia. It is collected in early spring, when the nights are still cold, and it is already warm in the afternoon. Trees at this time "cry", the harvest season begins in January and ends in April, March is considered the best month.
To collect the juice, a hole is drilled in the tree with a diameter of up to 1.5 cm and a depth of 5 cm, a tube is inserted into it. Under the tube put a container for juice.
The collected juice contains more than 95% water. It is evaporated for several hours to obtain a thick syrup. From 40 liters of feedstock, only 1 liter of healthy sweet is obtained. Sugar is never added to natural syrup.
The use of syrup in cooking
Maple juice syrup is widely used in cooking on the American continent. In Russia, this tradition is less developed, since it is not easy to find natural syrup for sale.
During heat treatment, maple syrup does not acquire carcinogenic qualities, as happens with honey, therefore it is more useful to add it to various pastries and hot desserts.
Syrup is used instead of jam, honey, jam, served with pancakes, pancakes, waffles, ice cream. Often added to dishes of vegetables and meat, used for cooking various sauces and baking bread.
How to choose maple syrup?
To choose a real maple syrup, you need to carefully look at the label, which contains information on the composition of the product.
In natural syrup there should not be preservatives, dyes, flavorings and other excipients. If there is regular sugar in the composition, this is no longer a natural product, but ordinary sweet water, which is sold under the guise of maple juice syrup.
To taste, you can determine the quality of the syrup by its soft woody taste, transparent and viscous consistency, reminiscent of liquid honey.
How to replace when cooking dishes?
Maple syrup can be replaced during the preparation of various culinary dishes with liquid, transparent honey, pear or gooseberry jam syrup. This will affect the taste of the dishes, and a true connoisseur of American cuisine will immediately feel the substitution.
Natural maple syrup can be bought nowadays in any country. The businessmen have estimated the benefits of the product and import it from Canada or produce it on their own from maple juice, which contains a large percentage of sugar.
