[HN Gopher] Quebec's Great Maple Syrup Heist (2016)
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Quebec's Great Maple Syrup Heist (2016)
Author : sndean
Score : 61 points
Date : 2022-12-16 08:45 UTC (14 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.vanityfair.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.vanityfair.com)
| simlevesque wrote:
| Tldr: they stole about 7.2% of the world's reserve of maple
| sirup.
| saiya-jin wrote:
| When talking about maple syrup, for an European, what would be
| considered a good brand(s) representing the taste, ingredients,
| process etc. as it should be? We have various stuff here in
| Europe mostly 'made in Canada', no 2 are the same, some taste
| better and some... less so, and price is not always a good
| indication.
| werdnapk wrote:
| There are different grades of maple syrup... golden, amber,
| dark and very dark. The darker, the stronger the flavor. For
| me, the classic is the snow scene can.
| arcosdev wrote:
| Yes. This is the way.
| lostlogin wrote:
| > snow scene
|
| You've reminded me of a section in Laura Ingalls Winder's
| 'Little House in the Big Woods', chapters 7 and 8 with the
| sugar snow.
|
| They make maple syrup and it's a bumper year as their is a
| cold snap after an initial thaw.
|
| The description of the process, the celebration and the
| eating it neat.
|
| https://www.gutenberg.ca/ebooks/wildersewell-
| woods/wildersew...
| aidenn0 wrote:
| There is a larger difference between light, medium, and dark
| syrup than there will be between two Quebecois syrups
| (especially two that you are getting in Europe, since you will
| be buying blends), the light is generally considered more
| premium, but some people prefer the dark, so that might be what
| you are tasting.
| kleiba wrote:
| Aunt Jemima's.
|
| Just kidding ;-)
| praefect wrote:
| I would trust any bottle in the world if it has either "Quebec"
| or "Maine" provenance and "100% pure maple syrup" inscription..
| it's only maple sap boiled for hours and hours but Acer
| Saccharum (sugar maple) is only indigenous to the North Eastern
| American continent.. (other maple-like trees produce sugary sap
| but not like the real deal).
| passwordoops wrote:
| Maine syrup on par with Quebec?!?
|
| FIGHT ME BRO!
| kannanvijayan wrote:
| As others have mentioned, Quebec's quality control tends to be
| pretty good, so looking for that branding and other wording to
| ensure that it's pure maple syrup should be sufficient to
| ensure a certain quality floor.
|
| The sad reality is that getting good maple syrup outside of the
| areas that produce them is difficult.
|
| I personally like the syrup produced by Madawaska Maple
| Products, a small-batch co-op in Ontario. But even finding
| those in retail _within_ ontario is a bit of a crap shoot. Some
| speciality "hipster" stores carry it.
| pj_mukh wrote:
| Its oddly difficult to get Canadian maple syrup _in America_.
| The Vermont kind keeps getting in the way.
|
| I'm not sure I can tell the difference, but I like to think I
| can.
| adgjlsfhk1 wrote:
| The Vermont syrup is at least as good as the Canadian
| (midwest syrup is fairly mediocre though)
| surement wrote:
| yeah, the best Canadian syrup is made mere miles from the
| Vermont border
| kennend3 wrote:
| Given there is a "strategic maple syrup reserve" you can
| extrapolate what happens at the retail level.
|
| In Quebec, all producers are required to sell to the "cartel"
|
| http://www.davidmckie.com/legal-battle-boils-in-quebec-over-...
|
| Once the cartel has your product, they blend it together in
| large containers and package this up for sale.
|
| So whatever "brand" is on the container, the product has
| probably been blended with many producers product.
| bbarnett wrote:
| This is not true, in many circumstances.
|
| One big one, which does not really help our friend in the EU,
| is buying from the farmer down the street.
|
| Note that this may seem obvious, but at the same time, it may
| be not understood by all, so I spake it.
|
| The amusing thing is, I think farmers sell the best stuff
| local, for the reasons you mention. After all, people have
| distinct choice locally, so it matters, and it is also where
| the farmer makes the most profit.
|
| But also note that local retailers sell local too! And woe to
| the politican, which damages that process of buy local!
|
| The left over does go into a big vat. And thus our EU friend
| feels diminished in value.
|
| I am sorry, but at the same time, I will keep my local maple
| syrup.
|
| (Also, amusingly, local stuff is often just canned in a plain
| can. Like the holy grail in that Indiana Jones movie, plain
| and simple = good stuff).
| bigmanwalter wrote:
| I'm a fan of this shop
| https://www.facebook.com/kiosquemontroyal/. Not sure what they
| do for international shipping as I usually go in-person since I
| live pretty close by, but feel free to contact them.
|
| They offer different grades of maple syrup, from Light, to
| Medium (Amber) to Heavy and Very Heavy. I like the very heavy
| syrup, it's made later in the season and has way more flavour.
| Most people tend to prefer the Amber as it's the most common
| and they're more used to it. I recommend trying them all and
| seeing for yourself!
|
| In terms of specific brands, it can be difficult as most syrup
| is produced on smaller, family-owned farms, and then relabelled
| by exporters.
|
| There are some award winning syrups which could be worth trying
| if you really want to aim for consistency, something like
| Saint-Paulin https://souvenirdefamille.com/en/products/sirop-
| derable-2021... or Escuminac https://escuminac.com/ (I don't
| know why but their site is broken for me and keeps reloading.)
| jdhdjdbdjdbd wrote:
| Hahaha I walk by this stand every day but assumed it was some
| kind of over priced tourist shop. Will give it a try!
| realo wrote:
| I was born and live in Quebec...
|
| Indeed, maple syrup is like wine. No two years are exactly the
| same, some taste better and of course price is not always a
| good indication.
|
| Exactly like wine...
|
| The highest quality of maple syrup you can get is the 'extra-
| light' type, very pale and liquid... It is quite rare because
| it can usually only be obtained in the first few weeks of the
| season, directly from the producers.
|
| The darker syrups are more tasteful and heavy, but considered
| lesser quality. They are much easier to procure, year long, in
| supermarkets.
|
| Whether you want a dark or a light syrup is basically a matter
| of taste, of course.
|
| Ah... one more thing: never, ever buy bottled maple syrup.
| Light affects the product. You should always buy it canned.
| Normally you should have identification of the producing farm
| on the can. Like wine...
| aidenn0 wrote:
| I'm going to suggest that the options for syrup in the EU are
| very different from in Quebec. Anything they buy there is
| likely to be a blend. Agreed that they should avoid anything
| in a clear bottle though.
| colechristensen wrote:
| > highest quality of maple syrup you can get is the 'extra-
| light' type
|
| Unless you are trying to replace sugar and want to minimize
| flavor, the lightest syrup isn't really the "highest
| quality". The recent move away from letter grading reflects
| this.
| TecoAndJix wrote:
| What about containers like these? Or does it really need to
| be a can? https://i.etsystatic.com/11926405/r/il/4bda58/22566
| 27826/il_...
| surement wrote:
| these have been fine in my experience; you're unlikely to
| find cans outside of regions that make maple syrup anyway
| Mezzie wrote:
| Those are fine. Those are what we put ours in. (My family
| has property with maple trees we tap.)
| iamthepieman wrote:
| I live in Vermont which has many maple syrup producers ranging
| from large scale operations that buy sap from multiple farms to
| small producers that make just enough for themselves, friends
| and family. I usually get mine by spending a couple weekends
| helping my cousins out during sugaring season and getting a few
| gallons in return.
|
| I prefer the darker varieties. They are thicker, don't run
| around as much on pancakes or ice cream, have a richer and more
| complex taste and are cheaper as well.
| seanc wrote:
| That's a tough question; I'm right in the middle of syrup
| country and the syrup snobs will all buy direct from the farm.
|
| When buying retail we have the same problem you do; the grocery
| stores typically only have one brand or two, and there isn't
| much correlation between the brand and the product.
| kannanvijayan wrote:
| Come on, we all know the real syrup snobs tap their own
| RRRA wrote:
| Ah ben tabarnac, this shows to again
| pigtailgirl wrote:
| -- good netflix doc about it:
| https://www.netflix.com/watch/80149537 --
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