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> Maple syrup is a minor luxury, easily substituted by other things like jam or honey. Speaking as a Canadian, I suppose this is maybe technically true from an

by ddkto 3y ago

> Maple syrup is a minor luxury, easily substituted by other things like jam or honey. Speaking as a Canadian, I suppose this is maybe technically true from an economic standpoint, but…we don’t even accept table syrup as a substitute, much less honey or jam. (and I’ll bet IHOP serves table, not maple, syrup…)

Loudergood 3y ago
Correct, except in Vermont.
hervature 3y ago
As gwern said, maple syrup is a minor luxury. My household grew up with Aunt Jemima because the extra expense could not be justified. People here saying maple syrup cannot be substituted sound as pompous as saying they only drink XXO Cognac because regular brandy just won't do.
- derstander 3y ago
  Your analogy is flawed. Maple syrup is not to jam or honey as XXO Cognac is to regular brandy. A better analogy is that maple syrup is to jam or honey as brandy is to beer. Yeah — they have the same sort of fundamental purpose but if your recipe or drink calls for wine you probably don’t want to substitute beer or vice versa.
- a-priori 3y ago
  According to one random source online, a typical serving of syrup would be about 15mL per pancake, so perhaps 50mL for an average breakfast serving of three pancakes for an adult. My local grocery store sells maple syrup for $1.90/100mL and table syrup for $0.60/100mL. This means that a serving of maple syrup would cost $0.95 and table syrup would cost $0.30, or a difference of $0.65 per person per meal. As 'luxuries' go, we're not talking about large amounts of money here, even for a low income family, to afford. I grew up in a low income family, and we still used actual maple syrup growing up because the difference in quality is worth it.
  - valarauko 3y ago
    I mean, by your own numbers, maple syrup is more than 3 times the price of its competitor. I would also imagine the type of syrup is not high on the priority list when comparison shopping. For what it's worth, my SO grew up in Texas and absolutely prefers the taste & consistency of table syrup over maple syrup for our use cases (pancakes & waffles). I suppose it's what he grew up with and that's what "syrup" is supposed to taste like to him.
    - a-priori 3y ago
      My point is that the quantities that are consumed per serving are small and so it's the absolute costs that are more important than the relative difference.
      - valarauko 3y ago
        Sure, but I think you have to consider how most people shop: if they see the bottle of maple syrup as 3 times the cost of its competitor, that's the comparison they see, especially if they have no strong emotional connection to maple syrup itself. Could they make the stretch if they wanted to? I'm sure they could, but I imagine there's a hundred other competing groceries that win out when the primary caretaker is grocery shopping. Should they opt for the name brand cereal or the store brand? Detergent? Juice? I don't think most of those grocery item comparisons are as stark as a three-fold difference, so I can appreciate that maple syrup may not make the cut for many people - even if the difference is not all that much in dollar terms.
  - hervature 3y ago
    An extra $0.50 per meal (less than what you are saying and not just for a topping) equates to an extra $500/year per person. Either you did not grow up as low income as you think you did or your family made sacrifices to keep maple syrup on the table. I knew many families that could not afford a new Xbox for their kids. You are literally saying that an Xbox per person per year is not a large amount of money for a low income family. I don't think we'll agree on that.
- jorvi 3y ago
  It can be somewhat substituted by “regular” (aka caramel) syrup although the taste of that is darker and has less depth due to the missing maple flavor. Honey and especially jam are ridiculous examples for substitutes.
valarauko 3y ago
It might be true for non-Canadian consumers of syrup. From my brief search, it looks like perhaps 70% of Canadian maple syrup is exported, so the tastes of non-Canadian consumers is quite important in this context.
thehappypm 3y ago
As a New Englander, I would agree that jam is not a substitute for maple syrup, but it’s a valid choice if you’re feeling a fruity vibe.

by ddkto 3y ago

Loudergood 3y ago

Correct, except in Vermont.

hervature 3y ago

As gwern said, maple syrup is a minor luxury. My household grew up with Aunt Jemima because the extra expense could not be justified. People here saying maple syrup cannot be substituted sound as pompous as saying they only drink XXO Cognac because regular brandy just won't do.

derstander 3y ago
Your analogy is flawed. Maple syrup is not to jam or honey as XXO Cognac is to regular brandy. A better analogy is that maple syrup is to jam or honey as brandy is to beer. Yeah — they have the same sort of fundamental purpose but if your recipe or drink calls for wine you probably don’t want to substitute beer or vice versa.
a-priori 3y ago
According to one random source online, a typical serving of syrup would be about 15mL per pancake, so perhaps 50mL for an average breakfast serving of three pancakes for an adult. My local grocery store sells maple syrup for $1.90/100mL and table syrup for $0.60/100mL. This means that a serving of maple syrup would cost $0.95 and table syrup would cost $0.30, or a difference of $0.65 per person per meal. As 'luxuries' go, we're not talking about large amounts of money here, even for a low income family, to afford. I grew up in a low income family, and we still used actual maple syrup growing up because the difference in quality is worth it.
- valarauko 3y ago
  I mean, by your own numbers, maple syrup is more than 3 times the price of its competitor. I would also imagine the type of syrup is not high on the priority list when comparison shopping. For what it's worth, my SO grew up in Texas and absolutely prefers the taste & consistency of table syrup over maple syrup for our use cases (pancakes & waffles). I suppose it's what he grew up with and that's what "syrup" is supposed to taste like to him.
  - a-priori 3y ago
    My point is that the quantities that are consumed per serving are small and so it's the absolute costs that are more important than the relative difference.
    - valarauko 3y ago
      Sure, but I think you have to consider how most people shop: if they see the bottle of maple syrup as 3 times the cost of its competitor, that's the comparison they see, especially if they have no strong emotional connection to maple syrup itself. Could they make the stretch if they wanted to? I'm sure they could, but I imagine there's a hundred other competing groceries that win out when the primary caretaker is grocery shopping. Should they opt for the name brand cereal or the store brand? Detergent? Juice? I don't think most of those grocery item comparisons are as stark as a three-fold difference, so I can appreciate that maple syrup may not make the cut for many people - even if the difference is not all that much in dollar terms.
- hervature 3y ago
  An extra $0.50 per meal (less than what you are saying and not just for a topping) equates to an extra $500/year per person. Either you did not grow up as low income as you think you did or your family made sacrifices to keep maple syrup on the table. I knew many families that could not afford a new Xbox for their kids. You are literally saying that an Xbox per person per year is not a large amount of money for a low income family. I don't think we'll agree on that.
jorvi 3y ago
It can be somewhat substituted by “regular” (aka caramel) syrup although the taste of that is darker and has less depth due to the missing maple flavor. Honey and especially jam are ridiculous examples for substitutes.

valarauko 3y ago

It might be true for non-Canadian consumers of syrup. From my brief search, it looks like perhaps 70% of Canadian maple syrup is exported, so the tastes of non-Canadian consumers is quite important in this context.

thehappypm 3y ago

As a New Englander, I would agree that jam is not a substitute for maple syrup, but it’s a valid choice if you’re feeling a fruity vibe.