canadiana 101: maple taffy / tire d'érable

  Maple taffy (or what I call 'awesomeness on a stick') is a delicious treat that I experienced for the first time yesterday.  It is a perfect mix of sticky, chewy and, if you wait long enough, hard.  It will also glue your teeth together if you bite in to it too fast, which I discovered the hard way. 

 According to Wikipedia, the treat is made by boiling maple syrup, and then pouring it on to ice or fresh, clean snow.  You place a  stick in the mass of maple syrup, which rapidly hardens and turns in to a lollipop of sorts.  You can eat it immediately and savor the goo factor, or you can wait and let the candy harden.

  The trick is to catch as much maple syrup as you can on your stick and find just the right moment to bite in to the maple mess.  Unfortunately, I didn't get enough practice yesterday, so my technique is not perfected (yet).

  It's a treat that is associated with eastern Canada, but apparently western Canadians also know a thing or too about maple taffy.  It's caloric, sugary, and absolute heaven.  I highly recommend trying it.

  There are several websites that tell you how to make an at-home version, no snow required.  However, I think half the fun is playing in the snow and getting cold while eagerly waiting for your maple taffy creations.