The Maple Leaf (and Syrup) Forever!
What started as a hobby in Brian Allaway’s backyard almost 30 years ago has resulted in an extensive line of sweet and delicious products that invoke a sense of Canadian pride and a chorus of “that’s pretty delicious, eh?” with every taste.
Allaway, the President of Acadian Maple Products in Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia, dreamt up the idea of sharing maple’s delicious properties in 1982, as part of building a tasty educational experience for his children, Cara and Brian William. The rest, is sweet, sweet history…. and, as I’ll go on to explain, a sweet present and future!
Initially, Allaway tapped several trees in his backyard in an effort to make pure maple syrup to share with his family and a few neighbours… as anyone who has visited Acadian Maple’s store or tried their maple syrup can tell, things have grown substantially over the past thirty years to an extensive product line.
An unbe”Leaf”able amount of flavour in store
Growing up a die-hard Toronto Maple Leafs fan, I’ve become accustomed to being disappointed by the mighty maple; however, that all changed on a recent trip to Acadian Maple Product’s flagship store in Upper Tantallon, NS – a 20 minute drive from downtown Halifax.
The reason for the trip was to tackle the delicious Maple Brunch (more on this below), but also to answer the question as to how many products could actually be made from maple. My question was promptly answered when I entered the shop…. LOTS!
The shop features a wide variety of maple products ranging from Acadian Maple’s flagship product – 100% pure maple syrup (in a variety of shapes and sizes), maple flavoured coffee brewed by the New Scotland Trading Company (tested this at brunch…AMAZING!), Maple BBQ sauce (had this on salmon later in the week – tangy and sweet perfection), Maple sugar (a delicious sweetener for your favorite coffee) to my new favorite sweet condiment, maple butter!
Just when I thought butter couldn’t get any better…
…it went and married itself with the sweet natural taste of maple. OK…so, there isn’t actually any butter in maple butter (it is made of 100% pure maple syrup), but it is delicious, and versatile, much like it’s maple-less friend, “normal” butter. Maple butter is basically maple syrup heated, and then rapidly cooled causing syrup to crystallize into a creamy, butter-like texture. Ladies and gentlemen, a new super condiment is born…
To date, I’ve put it to use for basically everything short of toothpaste (and don’t think that thought didn’t cross my mind)…
…the perfect flavouring to rolled oats
…a tasty sweetener for coffee and tea
…a sweet topping on toast
It is safe to say that having now tasted this for the first time, to go about life from here on in without it, would be simply un”beurre”able.
The New Breakfast of Canadian Champions prepped by the Feisty Chef
You’ve heard me share my belief that breakfast is the most important meal of the day before in my Valley Flaxflour blog post.
I consider myself a Prolocutor of Pancakes, a Braggart of Bacon, a Warden of Waffles and a Steward of Smoothies. As a result of experiencing the Maple Brunch at Acadia Maple Products, I am now adding Marketer of Maple to my list of self-appointed thesaurus-aided titles. Every Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2pm until April 29th (including Easter weekend), Acadian Maple Products is inviting maple lovers to an amazing breakfast buffet prepared by the skillful and witty Feisty Chef, Renée Lavallée.
Offering a full arsenal of culinary skill, from a super entertaining and informative Twitter Feed @feistychef, to teaching cooking classes, to preparing custom meals for small groups, the Feisty Chef can seemingly do it all.
On this fine Sunday morning, she drew from a range of local products, including delicious locally-made maple sausage from Cavivvhi’s Meats, pancakes, baked beans, eggs and bacon, Chef Renée made maple taste bud magic.
Amazing. Each of the items on the menu was delicately flavoured with a hint of maple, which resulted in two trips to the buffet line and one satisfied sweet tooth.
Time is limited on this delicious brunch feast – I’d recommend it as the perfect weekend morning endeavor – whether treating your parents (I can’t imagine a better way to wish Mom a happy early Mother’s Day – mom’s need love year round after all) or taking the kids to a family friendly spot (who knows, you could use the brunch as an opportunity to teach your kids about maple syrup, just as Allaway did at the genesis of Acadian Maple Products*). Regardless of your reasoning to visit, your taste buds will thank you, and you’ll be exposed to a number of delicious new ways to enjoy maple.
* For those interested in learning more about the history and many uses of maple, Acadian Maple’s website features a number of excellent educational materials and recipes.