National Maple Syrup Festival 2009

Saturday, drove down to Medora, Indiana at the request of Scott Hutcheson, aka The Hungry Hoosier, to judge for the National Maple Syrup Festival at Burton Farms. Great fun was had by all as we judges tasted 15 or so dishes and examined recipes from all over the US. Chef Daniel Orr and I also had a chance to tour the sugar barn (a fabulous smelling log cabin), check out the evaporator (state-of-the-art), and hear about tapping the local maples for sap (up to 30 gallons per tree with three taps). A special thanks to Tim Burton for filling us in on the details of tapping his Indiana sugar maples.

We tasted, of course, and while the Grade A is oh, so elegant, the Grade B stole my heart -- darker, smokier, and denser. (Perfect with stone milled grits and sausage for breakfast this morning.) More pics at Flickr.