MAPLE HARVEST: The Story of Maple Sugaring

by Elizabeth Gemming ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 24, 1976

A favorite staple of Indian diets and, for colonial families, an alternative to the costly store-bought sweetener made with ""the blood of slaves,"" maple sugar is still produced in traditional small scale operations--and, ironically, the very methods which once made it cheap and popular now account for its expensive luxury status. Gemming, a specialist in New England traditions (see Huckleberry Hill, 1968, and Blow Ye Winds Westerly, 1972), gives us an attractively illustrated, uncluttered history of the craft of sugar-making from the Indians-who kept their sugar in birch bark and resin containers and were the first to sell syrup commercially-to present-day operators who are experimenting with plastic-bag ""buckets"" and piping systems. Photos show that the modern sugarhouse, with its steel evaporating pans and special syrup hydrometer to test the finished product, isn't that different in spirit from the old outdoor setups, and after watching the work, one is hungry enough to share the sugarmakers' traditional post-season bowl of maple syrup with sour pickles. A treat all round.

Pub Date: June 24, 1976

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 48

Publisher: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1976

Categories: NONFICTION