WEST BRATTLEBORO — Maple syrup is in the air - literally.
As we pass sugarhouses on our way to work, we see maple steam fill the sky with sweet smoke. It's been a late start to the sugaring season this year and, I hope, just the beginning.
As I write this column, icy rain gathers on our slushy muddy driveway. The end of winter in Vermont reminds me of a child visiting a candy store and being told it's time to go: the poor kid is dragged, kicking and shrieking, while clutching anything within his reach. Vermont winter greedily claws and grasps, until enough spring bulbs push it out the door.
We live up on Glass Mountain, so we're behind Brattleboro weather by about two weeks. “Glass Mountain” is a term my father coined for our neck of the woods, as the road ices up around Thanksgiving and finally thaws around Earth Day.
The road is nearly vertical, making a short, abrupt mountain, which discourages most cars (except for those joyriding Connecticut skiers who ignore their GPS).
Glass Mountain straddles Brattleboro and Marlboro town lines. Up here, we are blessed with several sugaring farms: Robb Family Farm and Lilac Ridge Farm dot Ames Hill. Whetstone Ledges Farm taps on MacArthur Road. Along Route 9, Paradise Farm boils near Rashed's Garden Center. Heading west, you'll find David Matt, of Matt's Maple Syrup.
Where do you buy your syrup? What's your favorite grade?
I thought Grade B was Diehard Vermonter, until I spoke with Trudy Matt, David's late wife. She claimed that Fancy was the grade of choice for old-time Vermonters.
Being an innocent snob (one who adopts a behavior based on minimal input, then staunchly judges the non-doers), I had never even tried it, subsisting exclusively on Grade B and insisting that Fancy was prima donna syrup, marketed to wimpy Flatlanders.
But this was Trudy. You don't get much more Vermont than she, so I bought a jug of Matt's Fancy.
I brought it home and opened it, curiously. It was immediately different. The smell was subtle - almost flowery - and the color translucent. I poured some onto a spoon. The consistency appeared wispy compared to the cantankerous molasses-pull of Grade B.
Then I tasted it.
If you have never sampled fresh Fancy grade, I boldly assert that you have never tasted true maple syrup.
The other grades are delicious, of course. They have their own unique qualities, and we are grateful for them.
But the other grades are products. Fancy maple syrup is a gift. It's one to be saved for “first-string” moments: all things pancake, ice cream drizzle, and - absolutely! - right from the spoon, a la carte.
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Maple syrup is a mineral gem: a rich source of calcium, iron, and zinc, plus trace minerals like manganese.
Minerals - like zinc, called “the traffic cop” of the body - are governing nutrients. They regulate body functions, repair cells, build bone, and stimulate the immune system. They oversee metabolic activity. If our brain is Governor Shumlin, then minerals are the Selectboard, running the town and getting things done.
February's column discussed how the body can be likened to a woodstove, with our food leaving an ash after burning. Some foods leave alkaline ash. This is good, as our body's pH is slightly alkaline.
But most modern diets are highly acidic. Instead of using minerals for basic body functions, our bodies divert them to the acid-ash left over. Acid ash is a string of crimes and slew of potholes; the Selectboard has to reallocate town funds to the police force and public works. [Editor's note: Actually, Town Meeting would have to approve such a reallocation, but I'm not going to spoil the metaphor.]
Acid-ash-forming foods are those you might suspect: meats, dairy, sugar, alcohol, and wheat. The more refined and processed a food is (white rice and flour), the more acidic it becomes. Alkaline-ash foods are the heroes: most vegetables and fruits, whole grains, beans and seeds.
And yes - maple syrup.
All fruits and veggies are not necessarily alkaline. Blueberries, for instance, which are touted as a super-food, leave an acid-ash in the body. Acidic pH levels might contribute to (or at least aggravate) inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis and intestinal disorders. For more information regarding pH balance, consider An Apple a Day? Is It Enough Today? by Dr. M. Ted Morter Jr.
Eating maple syrup reduces acid-ash and commences internal spring cleaning. It's the most delicious way to detoxify your body! In fact, a common drink among fasters is the Master Cleanse - a beverage of water, lemon, cayenne, and maple syrup.
Vermonters have their own version of the Master Cleanse. My husband, Mark, recalls his neighbor, Vernon “Hook” Hagenbuckle, who started each day with a shot of maple syrup and an orange-juice chaser before his morning meditation. Hook lived to 96.
Almond butter chocolate cake
Let's celebrate spring with my favorite maple syrup recipe: almond butter chocolate cake, which uses almonds, maple syrup, and baking soda as a sweet way to nurture an alkaline system. (Granted, chocolate is highly acidic. But come on. It's chocolate.)
These flourless cakes are moist, dense, and chewy. They are also gluten- and dairy-free. (No, eggs are not dairy. Chickens are not cows.)
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine, then set aside:
¶{1/4} cup cocoa
¶{1/4} teaspoon salt
¶{1/2} teaspoon baking soda
Place the following ingredients into a mixing bowl and mix a few minutes, to make smooth and lighter. (Remember to scrape the sides of the bowl, in between each new ingredient, to keep batter consistency even.)
¶ 8 oz. almond butter (the smooth kind)
Add, then mix for a few minutes:
¶{1/2} cup maple syrup
Add, then mix for a few minutes:
¶1 egg (preferably duck)
¶1 tablespoon vanilla
Add dry ingredients previously set aside. Mix slowly as they combine. Then beat well, a few more times.
Generously grease the wells of a muffin pan with butter or use baking cups.
Drop batter into wells - about 1 heaping tablespoon per well.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool before eating.
Fare well.