Eighty per cent of the world's maple syrup comes from French-speaking Quebec in Canada: about 20 million litres are produced there every year. The maple farmers drill holes into the bark of maple trees and insert a drain, which siphons the sap into a bucket underneath. The sap (which is mostly water at this stage) is then placed in large vats in sugar-shacks and boiled for about three hours . . . 40 litres of this sap will boil down to just one litre of maple syrup.

These sugar-shacks are open year-round for tourists, where they can enjoy a moonshine portbased kind of drink infused with cinnamon and maple syrup, or something called 'tire', which is made by pouring warm fresh maple syrup onto trays of snow which instantly freezes into a tooth-rottingly sweet snack.

Maple syrup can be used with both sweet and savoury food. Parsnips and carrots take on a sweet subtle flavour when tossed with the syrup before roasting; a marinade for fish made with maple syrup, ginger and coriander is a wonderful thing; as is the great classic combination of maple syrup with bacon, whether it is in rashers served with pancakes, or a big maple syrup-glazed ham at Christmas.

Maple syrup recipe tips >> Maple roasted fruit is absolutely delicious and very quick to prepare . . . just slice or chop a selection of fruit, like bananas, pineapples, mangos, apples etc, and toss in enough maple syrup to generously coat the fruit. Put in a small ovenproof pie dish and cook in a hot oven until the fruit is just cooked. Serve warm over vanilla ice-cream.

>> Maple-glazed ham is wonderful. Just boil the maple syrup in an uncovered saucepan until it has thickened, then pour over the scored fat on the boiled ham (sometimes I stick some cloves into the ham too, or place slices of pineapple on top) and cook in a hot oven until glazed and deliciously caramelised.

>> For a quick creamy maple ice cream sundae, boil maple syrup with a tiny bit of cream for a minute, then pour over vanilla ice cream and sprinkle with chopped toasted walnuts or pecans .

>> Do like the maple farmers and add a bit of maple syrup (and a drop of brandy if you wish) to a cup of coffee.

Maple roast parsnips Serves 4-6 The maple syrup in this recipe gives the parsnips a sweet, subtle flavour. These are delicious with roast beef, lamb, turkey or chicken.

500g parsnips (about four large or eight small), peeled, quartered with the woody root in the centre cut out and sliced into long, even chunks Scant 50ml maple syrup Pinch sea salt Two tbsp olive oil Preheat the oven to 2300C, gas mark 9. Place the prepared parsnips in a saucepan of boiling water on the heat and boil for three minutes, drain and dry in kitchen paper (I find this blanching gives the parsnips a lovely texture).

Toss in a bowl with the maple syrup and a pinch of sea salt.

Drizzle the olive oil over, toss and empty out onto a roasting/baking tray. Place in the oven and roast for 1520 minutes, or until golden brown and soft.

Maple syrup and pecan bread This bread is divine, I love it served with cheese, or just on its own, toasted, with butter slowly melting on top.

I have used easy bake (fast action) yeast in this recipe, but if you can get fresh yeast, then use twice the amount (15g), and when you have kneaded the dough for 10 minutes, place it in an oiled bowl, cover with cling film, and place somewhere slightly warm (like a hot press, or in a warm kitchen) and allow to sit for two hours until it has doubled in size. Then knock back (knead all the air out) for two minutes, and shape and proceed as below.

500g strong white flour Two tsp salt 7g (one sachet) dried easy bake/fast action/quick yeast Approx 250-325ml lukewarm water Four tbsp maple syrup 75g chopped pecans Mix the flour and salt in a bowl and add in the dried yeast. Mix together 250ml warm water with the maple syrup (and the fresh yeast if using), and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix with your hands to get a nice soft, but not too sticky, dough. If it is too dry just add more warm water. Leave to sit for five minutes while you chop the nuts.

Knead the dough for 10 minutes until it is smooth and slightly springy (or knead in a food mixer for about six minutes, adding more flour if it is too wet, or more water if it is too dry).

Leave to relax again for five minutes (or two hours if you are using fresh yeast) then shape the dough into a loaf, either free-standing on a floured baking tray or in an oiled loaf tin.

Give it a couple of slashes with a sharp knife, then cover with a tea towel and put it somewhere nice and warm to sit until it has almost doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 2200C, gas mark 8. When the dough has almost doubled in size, brush it with a little beaten egg and put in the preheated oven.

Turn the temperature down to 1900C, gas mark 5, after 15 minutes, and cook for another 20 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and sounds hollow when tapped on its bottom.

Cool, then serve.

Pancakes with rashers and maple syrup Makes about 10 Maple syrup drizzled over American-style pancakes (thicker than the French crepe) and crispy rashers is a classic North American breakfast dish. We have this at home for brunch most Sunday mornings . . . it's always a winner.

150g self-raising flour (or cream flour with one tsp baking powder ) One-two tbsp caster sugar One egg, lightly beaten 150ml milk 50g butter 10 streaky or back rashers, cooked until nice and crispy (I love Gubbeen Smokehouse rashers) Maple syrup, to serve Sieve the flour (and baking powder, if using) into a bowl, add the sugar and stir.

Whisk together the egg and milk, make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients, add the liquid and whisk just until it comes together.

Heat a frying pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Melt 25g of butter in the pan and then add tablespoonfuls of the mixture and cook for about two minutes, until bubbles appear on the surface (by this time the underside should be golden brown) turn the pancakes over and cook until they feel firm in the centre and the undersides are golden.

Repeat with the rest of the mixture. Serve straight from the pan with crispy rashers and a good drizzle of maple syrup.

Banana and maple toffee cake This is seriously sweet and divine, and fabulous comfort food. It is very quick to make and looks so impressive. You may want to have a dollop of whipped cream on the side.

For the toffee:

50g butter 25g brown sugar 50ml maple syrup One tbsp lemon juice Three bananas, peeled For the cake mix:

100g butter, softened 50ml maple syrup 100g brown sugar One banana, mashed Three eggs, beaten 175g self-raising flour Preheat the oven to 1800C, gas mark 4. To make the toffee, place a 25cm ovenproof frying pan on the heat with the butter, brown sugar and maple syrup.

Cook on a medium heat, stirring every now and then for four minutes until the toffee has thickened a little.

Set aside and sprinkle with lemon juice. To make the cake, cream the butter, add the maple syrup and brown sugar, still beating, add the banana and eggs bit by bit, then stir in the flour;

or just throw everything into a food processor and whizz briefly till it comes together.

Slice the bananas in half horizontally, and arrange in the pan in a fan shape (this will be the top of the cake when it is cooked and turned out).

Spread the cake mixture over the bananas and place the pan in the preheated oven for 35 minutes or until the cake feels set in the centre.

Take it out when cooked, let it sit for five minutes, before sliding a knife around the sides of the pan and turn out on to a plate (it must still be warm to turn out).

Handy hint: I sometimes find that when I turn this out quite a bit of toffee remains in the pan. If this happens, put it on the heat, add one tbsp water and whisk until it all dissolves, then pour it over the cake.