HOW TO MAKE MAPLE SYRUP

Your favourite pancake topping is much more than just a sugary treat made in a factory

- WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD

As the world's largest producer of the amber nectar, Canada produces around 19.9 million gallons of maple syrup a year, around 73 per cent of the global supply. And it all starts with over 55 million sugar maple trees. Like all other tree species, maples produce a sticky substance called sap. Sugar maples use this to transport water, sugar and other nutrients through the plant, much like how blood in the human body delivers vital oxygen. It's sticky and viscous, derived from its high sugar content, which is the plant's primary source of energy. Maple sap has a sugar concentration between one and four per cent. By the time the sap is processed i