Produced in the sugar bush of the eastern woodlands, maple syrup is one of the few foods that Canada supplies to the world in larger amounts than any other nation. The sugar maple, the tree at the heart of the trade, grows well in the mixed hardwood forests of Quebec, Ontario, and the Maritime provinces, and it does best where the late-winter days turn mild while the nights stay very cold. Quebec brings in most of the national crop, so much so that people now link the province with the product itself. A few northern states make a small amount too, but no other country comes close to the volume drawn from Canadian forests each spring.

Making syrup begins with tapping the trees, a job timed for the short weeks when the frozen nights give way to thawing afternoons. A small hole is drilled into the trunk and fitted with a spout, and the clear, slightly sweet sap either drips into a hanging bucket or is drawn off through plastic tubing. The sap flows most freely when the temperature climbs above freezing by day and drops below it after dark. Because the raw liquid is so watery, about forty litres of it must be boiled down in a wide, shallow pan to make a single litre of finished syrup. The steam that pours from the sugar shack is a well-known sign that the season has come.