The benefits and harm of maple syrup. What is maple syrup from. How to make maple syrup at home - recipe

Maple syrup is a healthy sweetener of natural origin, which is very popular in America. This product is obtained by evaporation of sugar maple juice, which looks like a radar -liquid, and its taste can be compared with sweet caramel. Unlike sugar, maple syrup is much more useful, because it can be found in its composition a lot of minerals and vitamins. True, this syrup has not yet gained many fans, as in his homeland - in Canada, but many have already managed to evaluate its taste and nutritious properties. Let's figure out what maple syrup is, from which it is made, with what it can be served with. Is it possible to cook it yourself, and are there products that can replace it in our kitchens.

Maple syrup: composition, production technology

The first references to maple syrup were discovered in the XVIII century, but most scientists are unanimous in the opinion that this product was made by the Indians long before the greatest feat of Columbus - the discovery of America. The tribes used maple syrup instead of sugar, and also prepared nutritional and refreshing drinks based on it. It was the Indians who borrowed a method of obtaining syrup from sugar maple juice.

Interesting! Syrup is made from juice obtained from certain types of maple, which contain an increased amount of sugars.

The syrup hit Europe from Canada, which is the official homeland of the syrup. There, not a single feast can do without it: waffles, ice cream, desserts are watered with syrup, and it is also added to sauces to meat and fish. Canada is still a center for the production of syrup, the popularity of which has not been falling for many centuries.

On the shelves of our supermarkets, you can often meet a fake, not natural maple syrup. The falsifier is made of sugar syrup with the addition of dyes and flavors, which makes it an absolutely useless product.

The appearance of fakes is caused by a complex production technology. In fact, it is quite difficult to get juice from maple: for these purposes, trees are suitable, which are more than 30 years old, and the collection process itself lasts only two months a year. Therefore, to obtain a large amount of syrup, you need a whole plantation of quite adult trees.

Note! To make 1 liter of syrup, it is necessary to finish about 40 l of maple juice.

In order to avoid falsifications, experts advise buying American -made syrup. It can be of two types - Vermont and Canadian. They differ in consistency and coloring, but this does not affect their high quality - special commissions for quality control, including environmental friendliness, and naturalness, strictly monitor it.

Classification of maple syrup:

What should real maple syrup look like?! It is transparent, its color from amber to rich brown and even dark red. The syrup tastes wood-carbon, and its aroma is completely unique, so it is simply impossible to compare it with something. The consistency of maple syrup is strongly resembled acacious honey.

This is how maple syrup looks like:

Interesting! Maple syrup has a rich composition. It contains manganese, zinc, carbohydrates, calcium, selenium, vitamins B, as well as magnesium, iron, copper, many antioxidants.

The use of maple syrup in cooking

The syrup obtained from maple juice is the most important ingredient in America’s cooking. In Russia, this useful product is less popular, since it is not so easy to find on sale, and it is expensive.

Nevertheless, maple syrup has its fans who appreciated its excellent culinary and useful qualities. The syrup will be the perfect addition to hot pancakes, aromatic herbal tea, crispy waffles, ice cream. In addition, syrup can be added to jam or use it instead of honey if you have an allergy to bee products. Syrup is also used to make sweet baking, as well as all kinds of sauces.

Important! Maple syrup can be subjected to heat treatment. In the process of heating, carcinogens are not formed in the syrup, while all the beneficial substances remain in full.

Maple syrup - benefit

Maple juice syrup, in addition to taste, also has the healing properties:

• The composition of juice has a lot of abscisic acid. This nutrient has a beneficial effect on the function of the pancreas and, if there is a physiological necessity, enhances the secretion of insulin. Today, studies are underway that will allow to develop a medicine based on maple juice for the treatment of pancreas.
• There is evidence that maple syrup has an anti -inflammatory effect on most organs. Its eating allows you to clean blood, prevent the pathological division of cancer cells.
• Maple syrup will help in the fight against reduced immunity. The product reduces the risk of developing autoimmune ailments.
• Maple syrup is indispensable for men. Perennial observations of men who use maple syrup confirmed the ability of the product to prevent prostate cancer and age -related impotence. Scientists explained this property of maple syrup with a high content of manganese and zinc.
• Maple syrup on the heart affects well. It strengthens the muscle, prevents heart attack, arrhythmias, atherosclerosis.
• Maple syrup is also suitable for external use: women assure the fact that the syrup is perfectly caring for the skin - moisturizes and nourishes it.
• The syrup is a minimum of purine compounds and oxalates, which makes this product accessible to people with gout and other metabolic disorders. Maple syrup is allowed to all allergies, since it does not provoke allergic attacks.

Maple syrup - Harm

Although the benefits of maple syrup are undeniable, sometimes it can cause insignificant harm. Doctors do not recommend using this syrup to diabetics and people with personal intolerance to this product. It is also necessary to take into account the region in which maple plantations grow, since radioactive isotopes can accumulate in their juice.

How to cook maple syrup

High -quality syrup is quite difficult to find on the shelves of supermarkets. The shelves are simply full of low -grade fakes at high cost. If you have access to adult spicy maples, you can try to cook maple syrup at home. To do this, it is necessary to collect maple juice during the first two months of spring, when the air is still cold at night, and during the day it is already warm enough. In such conditions, maples are actively “crying”. As the experience of “collectors” of maple juice shows, the best time to collect a rich catch is March-April.

To get juice in the maple, a hole is made with a depth of 4-6 cm and with a diameter of up to 15 mm. Then a pipe is inserted into the drilled hole, and under it a compound is placed.

How to make maple syrup:

• Maple juice consists of 95% of ordinary water, so it is evaporated for a long time.
• The process of heating the juice on fire continues until thick caramel-amber syrup remains.
• In the process of evaporation, nothing is added to the juice, especially sugar.
• Then the resulting syrup can be removed for storage in the refrigerator or mothballed (heated to 80 ° C, pouring into sterilized bank and clogged).

Important! If in the process of storage, home maple syrup was sucked, changed color, acquired an uncharacteristic smell, it is better not to eat it. Perhaps the evaporation was not carried out to the desired consistency, and the syrup was deteriorated.

How to replace maple syrup

It is difficult to replace maple syrup with any product. Any replacement will lead to a change in the taste of the finished dish. But if there is no other choice, you can use liquid acacia or linden honey, liquid jam of pears or gooseberries instead of maple syrup.

Maple syrup - reviews

If you view reviews about maple syrup on various sites, it becomes clear that this product is an amateur.

• I acquired maple syrup, produced in Astrakhan. I can’t say that I can’t be delighted: the taste resembles burned sugar, and the aroma is too chemical. Perhaps the whole thing is in the manufacturer, so now I risk buying an American -made product. But at the moment, this product can not be recommended. Olga, 29 years old.
• Without maple syrup, not a single Shrovetide is complete. But this is not the only reason to enjoy the delicious syrup. My households simply do not represent milk cocktails, ice cream, and home waffles without a syrup. In a word, it is impossible to describe the incredible taste and benefits of this syrup. Eugene, 46 years old.
• I had an unexpected acquaintance with maple syrup - friends from Canada brought him as a gift. What can I say: if I want to diversify the taste of desserts and replace not particularly healthy sugar with something, then you will really like this syrup. But as an ingredient No. 1 in my kitchen, I do not consider it due to a rather specific taste and narrow spectrum of application.

Video: Maple syrup - Recipe