I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago when I spied a local maple producer working on the sap lines up and down my hill. Maple is the first product in our agricultural year — and it’s possibly the most precious.
I spoke last week with Winton Pitcoff, the coordinator of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association. He was getting ready for the kickoff of Maple Month in our state.
I wondered aloud whether he had any idea how the maple season was shaping up. He laughed.
“I’ll tell you the same thing I tell you every year. We don’t know,” he said. “I love that people ask this far in advance. Nobody asks the tomato growers, ‘How’s your season going to be?’ The fact that people ask is an indication of the tie they feel to maple syrup.”
I asked Pitcoff about the challenges of selling maple syrup during the pandemic. He noted that although sugarhouse restaurants have had their difficulties over the past couple of years, syrup is selling very well indeed.
“People are cooking at home more, and they’re splurging more and looking for local foods. (The producers) are having trouble keeping it on the shelves,” he explained.
Part of his job is to promote the varied uses of maple syrup. “There’s an ongoing effort to make folks aware of how versatile syrup is,” he stated. “It can be used just about anywhere sugar can be used. It tastes better, and it’s better for you.”
I couldn’t agree more. Maple syrup adds sweetness with depth to any dish. And its flavor resonates with a “terroir” unique to the area in which it is made.
I once visited a maple farm in the hills of Virginia, just about as far south as maple syrup can be manufactured. The product there was lovely and sweet, but it tasted completely different from my beloved Massachusetts maple syrup.
I like pancakes and waffles as much as the next person, and I have been known to indulge in the extreme sweetness of maple candy and fudge. Neverthless, my favorite use for maple syrup is adding a sweet pop to a savory dish.
Most recently, I used it to make sate. This Indonesian dish, also spelled satay, is classic street food in Java. The second largest island in the Indonesian archipelago, Java is home to more than half of the nation’s population and houses Indonesia’s largest city and capital, Jakarta.
My late neighbor Harrison Parker lived for many years in Indonesia. His mother frequently visited him there, and it was she who gave me this authentically Javanese recipe.
I love it so much that I put it in my “Pudding Hollow Cookbook.” There’s something about savory marinated meat combined with peanut sauce that speaks to me. My only change here was to substitute maple syrup for the small amount of sugar in the recipe.
Sate is related to shish kebab and is generally prepared on skewers. In the summer, I cook it on my grill. At this time of year, however, I employ a grill pan. I lightly grease the grill pan with a neutral oil (vegetable, canola) before heating it; then I pop on the sate.
The advantage of the grill pan (aside from being all-weather friendly) is that I never lose tiny pieces of meat as I occasionally do when they fall through the slats of my grill.
A warning: if you’re using wooden skewers, be sure to soak them in water for at least half an hour (even better, for several hours) before drying them briefly and then popping the meat onto them. That way, the skewers won’t catch fire while you’re cooking.
Sate is traditionally made with beef or chicken. Indonesians are mostly Muslim so they don’t use pork in this dish, but I don’t see why pork eaters couldn’t try it. If you want your dish to be vegetarian (even vegan), you could also make it with tofu.
Happy maple month!
Visit the Maple Producers Association website, massmaple.org, to find a sugarhouse near you and stock up on syrup.
Ingredients:
for the meat:
1-1/2 pounds beef (top sirloin is good) or boneless chicken breast
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic, cut fine
1 small onion, cut fine
2 tablespoons red wine
1 teaspoon maple syrup
for the peanut sauce:
1 onion, coarsely cut
2 tablespoons oil
1 cup peanut butter (I prefer chunky, but smooth is fine. I like to use Teddy brand, which is natural and has no sugar, but use what you have.)
1 cup water
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons maple syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 small wedge fresh ginger, finely chopped
1 to 4 teaspoons crushed red pepper (or a little more)
Instructions:
Begin several hours before you want to cook the sate. Cut the meat into small, bite-size pieces. Marinate it in the rest of the ingredients for several hours in the refrigerator. (Overnight is fine.) While the meat is marinating, soak skewers in water if they are made of wood so they don’t burn when you cook the sate.
About half an hour before you want to cook your meal, prepare the peanut sauce. Saute the onion in the oil until it browns lightly. Add the other ingredients. Experiment with the pepper. I like my sauce hot so I tend to put in quite a lot.
Cook the sauce for about 15 minutes over low heat to blend the flavors, stirring frequently. If the sauce becomes too thick, add more water. It should be the consistency of a thick cream sauce. Set it aside while you grill your skewers.
Load about 4 or 5 pieces of the beef or chicken onto a skewer; then grill until the meat is done. My chicken pieces cooked for about 4 minutes on each side.
Serve the sate with peanut sauce. If you want a full meal, serve some rice and a salad on the side. Serves 6. Leftover sauce should be refrigerated.
Tinky Weisblat is the award-winning author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” “Pulling Taffy,” and “Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb.” Visit her website, TinkyCooks.com.