"The Tang of Ginger and the Bite of Pecans..."

There's a hint of fall in the air -- the perfect season to bake a maple syrup cake. Here's a good recipe from The Recipe Corner.

In case you were wondering, Light Muscovado Sugar has a warm honey color and creamy fudge flavor. It's a British term for light brown sugar.

The fungus in my maple syrup

Kathie Hodge writes about an uninvited guest at her morning breakfast in the Cornell Mushroom Blog. "As I poured maple syrup over my son’s waffle, Plop! A perfect dime-sized fungus colony spilled out to crown that waffle like a malevolent pat of butter," she writes.
...
"A fungus that can grow in maple syrup is not your average everyday mold, it’s a xerophile. Xerophiles grow in places that are too dry and hostile for your average fungus. OK, maple syrup is wet, but it’s also extremely high in sugar. All that sugar has the effect of pulling water out of cells, and the vast majority of fungi can’t grow in maple syrup at all."
...
"...[M]aple syrup typically has a water activity of about 0.87 to 0.88, pretty hostile to most molds. Only a few xerophiles can live in it, including our surprise guest, Wallemia sebi."

Real Maple Syrup Pancake Feed

If you're in the vicinity of Hancock, Iowa, on the morning of 18 August, swing by the Botna Bend Park (42926 Mahogany Road) for the annual "Real Maple Syrup Pancake Feed" between 8:30 and 11 a.m.

Back in March, the Pottawattamie Conservation Foundation tapped the park's enormous maple trees and boiled down the sap to make this delicious treat. Grilled pancakes will be served with sausage, orange juice and coffee.

Cost? "Free will donations accepted."

There's more here and here, or call 712:741-5465 for more information.

Maple Syrup and Poutine

Now, here's a food blog that this Maple Syrup Maven just loves!

Maple Syrup and Poutine celebrates Canadian cuisine (and, we all know what Canada's favorite sweetener is!).

The photo? That's poutine. (French fries topped with fresh cheese curds and covered with hot gravy...an acquired taste, they tell me.)

Maple Syrup is Good For What Ails You

Well, we know it, but it's nice to have the scientific research to back up our anecdotal evidence that maple syrup is a health food.

According to the website of the George Mateljan Foundation, "Maple syrup is sweet - and we're not just talking flavor. Maple syrup, as an excellent source of manganese and a good source of zinc, can also be sweet for your health."

Besides, the site reports, "Maple syrup is not a commonly allergenic food and is not known to contain measurable amounts of goitrogens, oxalates, or purines."

The George Mateljan Foundation is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to provide unbiased scientific information about how nutrient-rich "World's Healthiest Foods" can promote health and energy.

What gene sequencing means to you – and maple syrup

It may seem counter-intuitive, but the strategies for sequencing human genomes have application to (of all things) maple syrup production. You can read all about it here.

This is merely an excerpt of the "Science Friction" column by Stephen Strauss:
"The generalized warming that Canada — and particularly the major syrup producing regions of Quebec — have experienced already seems to have shortened the sugaring-off season by several days in some areas....
"The logical thing to do would be to begin to plant stands of new maple trees in a line heading northward — but at the same time, try to apply scientific agriculture to the replanting....
"But to do this one would need a large base of genetic research already looking for these traits in maples. This doesn't exist....
"Moreover, what better way of saying that this country takes the need to adapt to climate change seriously than to initiate a genome mapping project on the literally iconic maple tree and its potentially endangered sap?"

"Treasure from the Sugar Shack"

"...[M]aple syrup was the only sweetener known on this continent until honeybees were introduced into the colonies in the 1630s."

Read more about the history of maple syrup at New York Folklore.

There's a recipe for Maple Johnnycake there, too.