Cooking with Maple Syrup

From Yankee magazine March 1994

When properly used in savory dishes, maple syrup lends an undertone rather than a bludgeoning sweetness. The trick to cooking with maple syrup is to use a light hand. It goes admirably with salty or strong-flavored meats like duck and corned-beef brisket. But it is equally appropriate for milder-tasting foods like chicken, salmon, and even scallops.

One recipe that turns up in many sugar maker’s cookbooks is disarmingly easy and can’t be improved upon: You skewer a scallop on a toothpick, coil a piece of bacon around it, brush it with maple syrup, and broil it briefly. Maple holds its own in soy sauce marinades, too, forming a slightly crunchy, slightly sweet crust on salmon or chicken, sealing in the juices of the fish or fowl as it caramelizes on the grill. Recipes using maple syrup: