I like to go out to breakfast. I like pancakes. I like french toast. But here in Maryland, I find that I prefer to avoid breakfasts out, because of the crushing disappointment that comes over me when my tiny metal pitcher of warm “breakfast syrup” is left by my plate. It’s all wrong.
I know why these places don’t offer their patrons real maple syrup. It’s expensive. What I do not understand is why they don’t offer it as an upgrade option for extra money. Is it because few people in this country prefer maple syrup? I know a few people who claim to prefer the taste of Aunt Jemima syrup to the real thing - not because they have never tried maple syrup, but because they’re more used to the fake stuff and it’s more familiar.
So, I ask the Dope:
What syrup do you prefer? And would you pay a buck more for an upgrade for the real thing at IHOP or your local diner?
Heh, the real question is: is your palate dead or alive?
Obviously the real stuff is better and it most definitely tastes better to someone with a stronger palate. One should pay more for it. Generally I’ll avoid the greasy spoons who don’t have the real stuff anyway (though I’m making it sound like I go out a lot–I don’t, because I prefer to make my own breakfast).
I voted ‘I prefer real maple syrup and I don’t use the fake stuff’, but that’s not entirely accurate. If I’m making gruel for the road, it’s not worth the real stuff. On those days I use sugar-free imitation maple syrup.
But if I’m having pancakes, make mine 100% pure maple syrup – Grade B, thankyouverymuch.
Full disclosure: In a fit of nostalgia, I did have boysenberry syrup the last couple of times.
I don’t use the fake stuff because I’ve never tried one I didn’t find repulsive. I’d rather have my pancakes with jam or fruit compote or just about anything else on them than fake maple syrup.
Real maple syrup for me, and not that store bought stuff, I prefer the syrup we make ourselves from the maple trees in the yard, freshly boiled, straight from the tree
We have a great local restaurant here that does offer real maple syrup, for a price - $1.79, for the record. I’ll pay it if I’m not getting fruit pancakes, which I eat with hardly any syrup, or if someone else at the table is getting pancakes, since it’s always enough for two plates. If I’m at IHOP or something, I’ll use whatever they have on the table, but I don’t like it nearly as much. I’d also prefer to get real butter rather than the yellow greasy substance most places plop on top of their pancakes.
My deeper problem (breakfast-related problem, that is - I have a whole slew of deeper problems in general) is that I don’t like any restaurant’s pancakes all that much. I think they tend to be doughy and bland. And every place I’ve ever been to that offered whole-grain pancakes stuffed them with nuts and/or fruit to the degree that I couldn’t taste the actual pancakes. So I make mine at home, with one cup of whole wheat pastry flour, 2/3 cup of cornmeal, and 1/3 cup of rye flour. Sometimes, for a lark, I’ll add in a couple of tablespoons of flaxseed meal. And, if they’re in season, I mix in fresh blueberries. With some (real) butter and grade-B maple syrup, they’re ten times better than any restaurant pancakes I’ve had. And if you count the time spent getting dressed, going to the restaurant, and waiting for a table on a weekend, it really doesn’t take any longer to make the pancakes than to go out.
But making your own maple syrup from your own maple tree? That’s greater dedication to quality than I could ever muster.
I have turned my family on to the good stuff. I grew up on fake syrup, but my dad always insisted on the real stuff. I didn’t know any better, but I do now. Although I don’t have a lot of money, I don’t hesitate to spend the $ on real maple syrup, because I believe that good things like that should cost more. Also, I’m a big fan of Trader Joe’s whole grain pancake mix made with almond milk. Hullo, I didn’t know pancakes were supposed to taste so good. I prefer real butter, too, although for health reasons I stick with Smart Balance.
But, yes. Only real. I’m not ashamed to admit to being a snob for maple syrup.
I know there are various grades of ‘real’ maple syrup, but I must have bought the bottom of the barrel last week. This syrup tastes terrible. I lived in VT until I was six, and actually remember going out and tapping trees, having the big fire with the big cauldron bubbling away in the middle of it all. And I was a lucky little kid for being able to have maple syrup over snow all winter long.
But this stuff…Um…maybe my taste buds died. Or maybe what I ‘remember’ from childhood is all wrong. It’s dark amber 100% maple syrup from Vermont, or so it states on the label and ingredients. But it tastes exactly like brown sugar. And…that’s it. Actually, it tastes like fake brown sugar, if there were such a thing.
Something tells me that is not far off from what it’s supposed to be, but I just seem to remember a much thicker, much stronger maple flavor, not just…liquid sweetness. I actually prefer ‘fake’ syrup over what is in this bottle. That makes me sad.
I grew up on the fake stuff, too, to the point that when I first tasted the real stuff, I didn’t like it. Since moving to Vermont, I’ve become a convert. I don’t have to worry about price, though, because we have some neighbors that make their own and provide us with far more than we could ever use. I asked them one time if I could buy a few pints for visiting family to take home, and came home with three gallons of liquid gold and my money still in my pocket.
The fake stuff is just thickened maple flavored soda without the carbonation. No wonder people prefer it, because they’ve tasted the same thing all their life and it’s nothing like the real stuff.
On the few occasions where I’ve shared the real stuff with people, I have to ask them (nicely) not to pour gallons of it over their pancakes or waffles and leave most of it on the plate when they’re done. You can do that all you like with the cheap fake stuff on your own dime, but I dislike people wasting my food and beverages.
I’m truly confused how anyone could feel this way. I can understand preferring the taste of the fake stuff, but to describe the real thing as “amazingly bad”?
Are you quite certain that the ‘real stuff’ you tasted was in fact actual maple syrup?
I grew up on the fake syrup. Once I had real maple syrup I immediately became a convert. I definitely agree there is a distinct difference between them and that pancakes with real maple syrup are distinctly more enjoyable.
I’m not sure if I would always pay for an upgrade on syrup (depending on how indulgent I was feeling) but I definitely agree with you that it’s disappointing when restaurants that specialize in breakfast don’t offer good quality maple syrup with pancakes.
My fondest childhood memory is visiting my grandfather’s sugar bush each spring. He would make maple wax for us, then for desert grandmother always had dishes of boiled syrup for us to hand whip into cream for crackers or to save for toast the next morning.
(So, voted for the real stuff even though a dentist once looked in my mouth and told me that if I was a horse, he’d shoot me…)
That makes me sad.