Drawn from the sugar maple and a handful of related species, maple syrup is one of the oldest agricultural products made in Canada, a country that still supplies most of the world's yearly harvest. Production begins in the final weeks of winter, when a run of freezing nights and milder afternoons pushes the sap to rise through the trunk. Producers then drill a narrow hole, insert a spout, and gather the clear, faintly sweet liquid that emerges. Although a mature tree can be tapped for several decades without lasting damage, the sap it yields is very thin, and roughly forty litres must be gathered to produce a single litre of finished syrup.

Turning that watery sap into concentrated syrup is largely a matter of patient, prolonged boiling. Inside the sugar house, the liquid is boiled for hours in a broad, shallow pan, so that the rising steam carries away the extra moisture while the remaining sugars grow steadily more concentrated. As the temperature climbs and the colour deepens from pale gold toward rich amber, the syrup takes on the caramel character that cooks prize. The timing is very delicate: removed from the heat too early, the syrup stays watery and will spoil before long, while syrup left on the heat too long hardens into a solid mass. Traditional producers judge the decisive moment by practised observation, whereas larger operations rely instead on instruments.