It's Maple-Sugaring Time Again

It's Maple-Sugaring Time Again

It's the quintessential condiment of New England breakfasts, the core ingredient of cutely shaped candies, and one of New Hampshire's legendary exports: maple syrup. In fact, the Granite State produces about 90,000 gallons of this sweet elixir every year. And throughout the state, particularly in the Monadnock and Sunapee regions, a number of private sugarhouses open their doors to the public -- you can come to watch maple-sugaring demonstrations, or just to buy fresh syrup. A few sugarhouses even hold parties and festivals.

The season generally runs from about mid-February through mid-April, depending on weather conditions. Sap runs best when daytime temperatures rise above freezing. Once collected in buckets from the trees, sap is brought to the sugarhouses, where it's boiled down and ultimately reduced to pure maple syrup. You need to boil down about 40 gallons of raw sap to get just a gallon of refined syrup. It's a time-consuming and rather painstaking process, which in part accounts for the relative high cost of pure maple syrup versus the treacly imitation variety sold in many grocery stores.

Make a note on your calendar to attend the state's foremost sugaring event, New Hampshire Maple Weekend, held in mid- to late March, when some 50 sugarhouses open their doors to guests, host pancake breakfasts, and show off their often impressive sugaring operations. For a list of syrup producers throughout the state, contact New Hampshire Maple Producers (79 Fisherville Rd., Concord, 03303. 603/225-3757. www.nhmapleproducers.com). The organization also produces a cookbook containing some 200 maple recipes; you can order this book from the Web site for $14, which includes shipping and handling.

-- Andrew Collins