I grew up using Karo syrup, both the clear and the dark kind. Sweetens the pancakes/waffles/french-toast without adding extra flavors. We’d put butter or peanut butter or jam if we wanted more flavor.
Maple is a strange flavor. It’s rather over-powering. It’s hard to taste the other things when it’s there. It’s all right, but not worth the extra cost.
I have brought my own bottle of maple syrup with me to restaurants when they didn’t serve it. Some people in my dining party made fun of me for doing so, but they had to eat pancakes that tasted like crap, so I considered it a fair tradeoff.
Sure there is. Serve food in pre-measured individual servings. If you want to serve syrup this way, you’ll probably need some new dishes, but it can certainly be done. Someone can politely ask for more, and you should give it to them, but most people will not.
Yeah, the cafeteria today served French Toast, and of course it was with nasty syrup, and I ate it. I ain’t proud.
Except of my pancake recipe!
Okay, not really. It’s just Joy of Cooking. My recipe goes something like this:
Now here’s a guy who’s serious about his maple syrup: http://www.thestarpress.com/article/20120628/BUSTED/306280035/Police-Arrest-follows-dispute-over-pancakes?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage%20DontMiss|s
I grew up on the fake stuff but now use only the real deal. Yes, it costs more. But the taste is sublime and I can support the local (MN) economy too.
If you find the taste too strong, try Grade A Light or Medium amber. I use those for cooking when I don’t want an overpowering flavor. For pancakes and making yogurt, I use Grade A Dark or Grade B for the stronger flavor.
Grew up around 3 maple syrup producers and therefore we usually had a freezer full of the shit - grade B. The fake stuff is an unacceptable substitute and powdered sugar gets used should I be at someone’s house who doesn’t have the real stuff.
The perils of overusing the real maple syrup.
:eek::eek::eek:
From that article:
Hey, I prefer blueberries, but whatever floats yer boat.
Okay, here’s what I’ve gone and done. I was shopping at Villa Supermarket on Sukhumvit Road this afternoon, a local Western-oriented grocery chain. (It was the venue for this thread, but I digress.) They stock many items that are not easily found over here, mainly because a lot of ambassadors and such shop here (or their maids do anyway). It’s kind of a wealthy neighborhood. They have real maple syrup from Canada, so I picked up three different kinds.
I hope I did okay. All three are Turkey Hill brand. I picked up a bottle of their Canada No.1 Light, Canada No.1 Medium and Canada No.2 Amber, all of them 250ml. The two No.1 syrups are in cute maple-leaf-shaped bottles, while the No.2 is more of a jug. So we’ll try it. We still have ample quantities of Aunt Jemima and Log Cabin to fall back on if need be.
But here’s the thing. The wife and I are both on unofficial diets, and we have two large social meals coming up in the next couple of weeks. So I don’t think we’ll be doing pancake breakfasts until maybe late this month or early next. But when we do, I’ll report back on the syrup. Meanwhile, any thoughts on the types of syrup I picked up?
I voted only one of several options. (didn’t see it was multiple choice until too late)
I used to have “separate but equivelent” breakfast choices. Mommy got real Maple Syrup because she put tiny amounts on her pancakes/French toast, and the boys (Tall boy, age 43 and Small Boy, age 8) used to get the breakfast syrup stuff because they would use a third of a bottle per shot.
But, to celebrate Canada Day we used real maple syrup. Now small boy wants the real stuff. He has been gone for almost a month. I checked supplies for “nice welcome home pancakeses” (yes you are supposed to say pancakeses in a Gollum fashion) and discovered we don’t have any “real stuff” currently because boys small and tall spent the rest of Canada Day eating syrup on bread. (Mommy was sleeping because, well someone has to work nights and pay for the stuff! [Homer Simpson voice] MMM nights, overtime on Canada Day Stat… sweet sweet triple time +differential uggroggglogggghoggguuuuhduuuuh MMM nights, overtime on Canada Day Stat [/Homer Simpson voice]
So now I don’t know what to do. I might have to get a lockbox. Maybe put bacon in it, because two nights ago Tall boy fried up an entire pound of thick cut bacon and ate it all while I was at work.
I live with gluttons.
I think it depends on the cakes, the accompaniment, the beverage, etc. Buckwheat cakes cry out for Sorghum or honey (and then – what kind?!), or even a bit of treacle; corn cakes, honey or golden syrup, or a bit of sweet molasses and rhum. As I am a vegetarian i often use pure Grade B Maple syrup and a bit of hickory smoke and ground fennel, cumin, thyme, and sage, etc., to simulate the underlying flavours of bacon or sausage. (Note: although I’m ‘legally’ Jewish, I’m from several generations of mixed marriages, so we never kept completely kosher: I have tasted forbidden fruits, and they were pretty durn good! I, on the other hand, at least try – except for caviar always, gin even during Pesach, and that bit about Letter of/Spiirit of the Law… which is to say, not much, in the eyes of my frumer cousins … lol.) For general pancakeage, I prefer the real stuff, and use only the real stuff. I guess I don’t go out to places that don’t serve the real thing – not generally, at any rate – and if i find myself in such a place I do what any good Jewish boy does … I accept the hospitality of the host. I might point out that Shoo-fly Pie suffers when pure Maple syrup is used … ya gotta Swing to King, so that’s always in the cupboard. Guests get whatever they want, and when someone pours half a cup of the real thing on two flapjacks, my heart may sink a bit, but I keep a stiff upper and a twinkle in the old eye, and I say, I just luuuuvvv Maple syrup, hon, don’t you? (Of course, this can only be said once at any meal! And only to A. a very young, confident child; or, B. a very dear, confident friend; otherwise, one never ‘sees’ anything.) If you want to make your own syrup, toast some fenugreek seeds and add them to warm corn syrup; use a little burnt sugar or dark Karo, or some sweet molasses for colour, and some local honey to give it that wild edge; thin with water; toss in about 8 grains of salt. Any syrup benefits from being warmed before serving; offering warmed syrup already blended with melted butter is a nice touch. Oh, and as for butter … keep it real, AND unsalted …
Update: I just finally got around to making pancakes again, and we used the Canada No.2 Amber. The wife and I both agree that while it is good, we still prefer the Aunt Jemima / Log Cabin syrups.
I know this guy who will sell you a million gallons real cheap
Growing up in the midwest/southwest/whatever Oklahoma is, we had nothing but the Aunt Jemimah/Mrs. Butterworth kind. When I got married, a friend from New Hampshire asked what I wanted as a wedding gift. I told him maple syrup. I thought that the taste was OK, much stronger than what I was used to. What really surprised me was how thin it was. I always expected it to be as thick as what I was used to or even thicker.
I’ll use it if it’s available but I won’t order it from Amazon.
