December 17th is National Maple Syrup Day!

John-Bryan Hopkins

Here are today’s five food things to know about maple syrup:

There’s an International Maple Syrup Institute that was founded in 1975.

Canada supplies about 80% of the word’s maple syrup.

Koreans usually prefer sap over syrup.

One gallon of maple syrup is made of 40 gallons of sap.

Aunt Jemima and Mrs. Butterworth syrups aren’t considered authentic maple syrup because of all the high fructose corn syrup they contain.

Today’s Food History

1843 Charles Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol’ was published. It contains numerous and elaborate descriptions of Christmas food and dinners.
“Oh! All that steam! The pudding had just been taken out of the cauldron. Oh! That smell! The same as the one which prevailed on washing day! It is that of the cloth which wraps the pudding. Now, one would imagine oneself in a restaurant and in a confectioner’s at the same time, with a laundry nest door. Thirty seconds later, Mrs. Cratchit entered, her face crimson, but smiling proudly, with the pudding resembling a cannon ball, all speckled, very firm, sprinkled with brandy in flames, and decorated with a sprig of holly stuck in the centre. Oh! The marvelous pudding!”

1892 The first performance of Tchaikovsky’s ‘The Nutcracker’ in St. Petersburg.

1940 ‘Corn Silk’ was recorded by Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians.

1948 Jim Bonfanti of the music group ‘The Raspberries’ was born