# 19 A Stack of Pancakes

You are on a trip. You stop for breakfast. You order a stack of pancakes and perhaps coffee. The pancakes and coffee are placed before you. Now, the question. What two other items naturally come with the meal? If you said, "Maple syrup and butter," you are right. You pick up the small bottle of syrup. There's print on it. It tells where the syrup came from. It might be one of three places: Quebec, New York, or Vermont. Quebec is the leader in maple syrup. It produces about 1½ million gallons a year. New York and Vermont produce far less.

The syrup comes from maple trees. It comes from black, silver, and red maples. The largest amounts come from the sugar-maple tree. The process starts in early spring. A hole is bored into the tree trunk. It's about three inches deep. The hole must be deep enough to tap the sapwood. Next a spout is inserted. It is the runway for the dripping sap. The right size is important. It must be watertight. Pails are then hung on the spout. Sometimes strong plastic bags are hung instead. The pails or bags are covered. This keeps out the rain, leaves, and bark.

Each day, sap is collected. It is poured into tanks. These tanks are on sleds if there is snow. Otherwise tanks are on wheeled carts. The sap then goes to the saphouse. Here it is boiled. Most of the water is boiled away as steam. But not all the water. Some water is left. If all were steamed away, what would you have? The answer is hard sugar. The object, of course, is to have syrup. So you leave just the right amount of water.

The right balance gives you a tasty syrup. Not too thick. Not too thin. But just right.

# 19 一疊煎餅

你在旅途中。你停下來吃早餐。你點了一疊煎餅，也許還有咖啡。煎餅和咖啡擺在你面前。現在，問題來了。還有哪兩樣東西自然會隨餐附上？如果你說「楓糖漿和奶油」，你就答對了。你拿起小瓶的糖漿。上面有印刷字。它告訴你糖漿的產地。可能是三個地方之一：魁北克、紐約或佛蒙特。魁北克是楓糖漿的領導者。它每年生產約150萬加侖。紐約和佛蒙特的產量要少得多。

糖漿來自楓樹。它來自黑楓、銀楓和紅楓。最大量的糖漿來自糖楓樹。這個過程從早春開始。在樹幹上鑽一個洞。大約三英寸深。這個洞必須足夠深以觸及邊材。接著插入一個插管。它是滴下樹液的通道。正確的尺寸很重要。必須是防水的。然後在插管上掛上桶子。有時改用堅固的塑膠袋代替。桶子或袋子會被蓋住。這可以防止雨水、樹葉和樹皮進入。

每天收集樹液。它被倒入儲罐中。如果有雪，這些儲罐會放在雪橇上。否則儲罐就放在輪式推車上。然後樹液被送到製糖屋。在這裡它被煮沸。大部分的水會以蒸汽的形式被煮掉。但不是所有的水。會留下一些水。如果所有的水都蒸發了，你會得到什麼？答案是硬糖。當然，目標是得到糖漿。所以你只留下適量的水。

正確的平衡給你美味的糖漿。不太濃稠。不太稀薄。而是恰到好處。