3.31.2008

Rogue Sap

Rogue Sap, this is my new favorite roadside refreshment.

Straight from the maple tree the sap drips into the bucket waiting to be boiled down into nice amber syrup.

Clear, just sweet enough and slightly sticky to the lips. I’ve never heard of anyone drinking straight sap before but I’m not one to ever turn down tradition. It was tasty and refreshing; it honestly tasted like simple syrup. You want to be careful though as I was told that raw sap should only be consumed in small quantities otherwise you may give your self an upset stomach.

Maple sap is better used to make maple syrup as it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make just one gallon of maple syrup. A single tap can produce around a gallon of sap in a day during optimal weather conditions.

The Salted Cod does not condone stealing any hard dripped sap from maple farmers. Luckily I was in “Wheeler” county where they have the rule of the land.



9 comments:

Otie Wheeler said...

Ha!

meg said...

looks like "road sap" to me. i'm so jealous!

copykat chef said...

No Pancakes?

Trevor said...

No pickles and pancakes yet!

Jenn said...

Trevor -

Are you referring to Gould's Sugarhouse (http://www.goulds-sugarhouse.com/) when you speak of pickles and pancakes? I live for the Gould's pancakes. I do not know how they make them, but they are (by far) the best pancake that I have ever eaten. And their maple milkshake is not that bad either!!!

My grandfather (Uncle Bud) LOVES this place. Seriously - what isn't to love - fresh maple syrup served with lots of delicious pancakes in an utterly charming farm setting. This is perhaps one of my all time restaurants ever!!!!!

Love Gould's!

Cheers!

Jenn

Trevor said...

Yup, Gould's sugarhouse!

We try to go there every spring. It's so good, and you get to chuckle at all the bill cosby pictures eating there too!!

Jenn said...

We also try to make it out there (though I don't think we've been since 2006). They are also open in the fall, which is nice because they sell fresh apples and apple pies.

My dad knows Mrs. Gould. Mr. Gould passed away sometime over the past few years. I hope they keep the place running forever. I love it there.

We are thinking about possibly heading there this Sunday (April 13th).

We were in Rochester, NY this weekend. We dined at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (http://www.dinosaurbarbque.com/rochesterIndex.php). GREAT FOOD!! I've had the sauce before, but I never actually ever visited one of the restaurants. I think I had, quite possibly, the best corn bread I have ever tasted. They make it with some type of honey glaze.

We also stumbled upon a great coffee shop that served delicious cafe au lait, chai tea and egg sandwiches. SPoT Coffee is out of Buffalo, NY with locations in Toronto and Rochester (http://www.spotcoffee.com/index.html).

Finally, a trip to Western NY is not complete without visiting Wegman's (http://www.wegmans.com). Wegman's is the most unbelievable super market shopping experience.

Dinosaur Bar-B-Que, SPoT Coffee and Wegman's are perhaps the only reasons I could live in Western NY.

Cheers!

Jenn

Jenn said...

We visited Gould's yesterday. It was delicious and packed. I think they're open for two more weekends and then they'll be closing for the summer. In the spring they don't serve the maple milkshakes. Good stuff.

Anonymous said...

Straight up, this makes me wish that I could just pull over and tap some maple trees here in Portlandia, but I can't, so I'm going to go drink from the Bubblers downtown (public, ever-running, ever-wasteful water fountains) and pretend it is the same damn thing. You made me jealous, Trevor.