Maple Syrup Effect

T teaches AP Econ to about 60 high school seniors. During a discussion on the Substitution Effect (phenomenon when prices of particular products and services rise - or when incomes decrease - consumers will replace pricier products and services with cheaper alternatives) T used maple syrup as an example. This goofy winter had maple trees across our region producing sap much too early and spawned predictions that the price of maple is going sky high this spring.

Of T's students, about sixty percent hadn't ever tasted maple syrup. Never missing an opportunity for the experiential moment, T immediately set up a syrup tasting for the kids. He pitted the local brand we typically purchase against Mrs. Butterworth and had students taste spoonfuls of each syrup. The results: both sets of kids (those familiar with maple syrup and those who never tasted it before) overwhelmingly chose pure maple as their favorite, although there were a few outliers, or "individuals" as T refers to them, who maintained that the fake stuff is superior.

"That other syrup is so sticky. The kids could hardly lick it off the spoon," T told me, describing Mrs. B. "These long strings of syrup stuck to the bottle, the spoon, everything." Mmm, appetizing! In honor of T's taste test we had a lovely salad last night topped with Cara Cara Maple vinaigrette. The salad and vinaigrette were inspired by Cossetta's Spinach Cranberry salad (spinach, candied pecans, dried cranberries, and cubed Parrano tossed with a sweet maple vinaigrette) although I went in a more savory direction and combined spinach, red onion, figs, avocado, Trugole cheese.

Cara Cara Maple Vinaigrette
Zest and juice from Cara Cara orange (about 1/4 cup juice)
3 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 small shallot, diced (about 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cracked pepper
1/2 cup olive oil

Shake all ingredients together until maple and mustard are well blended. If dressing is too thick, add a few tablespoons of apple cider vinegar or water until it becomes a good consistency.