Canadian Based " The World Wide Gourmet .com" Discovers Hickory Syrup

All about HICKORY SYRUP



This medium thick, amber-colored syrup is the sticky stuff of legend. Its smoky, nutty flavor is unique, less sweet and more complex than maple. To appreciate its delicate subtle flavor you should taste it right from the spoon. You'll appreciate the pure, refined taste that offers countless culinary possibilities. And the hundreds of chefs from Maine to California - not to mention home gourmets - who count themselves among the converted will tell you that Gordon Jones is definitely not barking up the wrong tree.

Jones and wife Sherrie Yarling, America's sole producers of Shagbark Hickory Syrup, live and work on 64 acres of land in Brown County, Indiana that boasts a six-acre lake and rich groves of hickory, ash, oak and poplar trees.

But it is the shagbark hickory - specifically the bark - that provides Jones and Yarling their livelihood in the form of this delicious condiment that has customers clamoring for more.

Each bottle of the filtered and aged syrup ("like fine wine," says Jones) is like liquid Americana. The process of distilling the extract from the bark dates back to the Native Americans indigenous to the region.

The origins of the exact recipe are at least 200 years old, passed on to them by a mysterious elderly man buying firewood. He remarked that his great-great-grandmother had made syrup from the bark of the hickory trees. When the man returned for more firewood, Jones - undaunted by a few botched batches - offered to trade the wood for the recipe.

The hickory has been known since ancient times - its nuts, leaves, bark... When they're seven years old, shagbark hickory trees shed bark the same way snakes shed their skins. The syrup is produced by using a high-pressure extraction system (which Jones describes as a cross between a pressure cooker and a crock pot) and adding sugar.

Now, over ten years and as many expansions in production later, Jones and Yarling are still the sole employees of Hickoryworks, where they handle the production, distribution and marketing of the syrup to a growing clientele.

Their business now spans the globe, with the syrup sold in the trhs chic Harrods department store of London. In November 2001, after an article featured the syrup, Hickoryworks sold 3,500 bottles in 45 days. Julia Child, the Epicurean Queen herself, gave her stamp of approval when Jones and Yarling sent a bottle to celebrate her 85th birthday. She wrote back, thanking them for their gift and recommending the syrup be mixed with bourbon for glazing ribs.

Hickory syrup goes with (almost) everything...
In desserts (like crhme br{lie), sauces (like salad dressings), and as an ingredient in savory dishes from sweet potatoes to salmon. It can even be used in cocktails, such as the Shagbark Julep. "It pairs very well with bourbon," says Jones.

When it comes to glazes and crusted coatings - the sine qua non of a roasted game hen or rack of lamb - chefs are looking for more flavor. With business flourishing and so much syrup in the works, it's no wonder life is so sweet for Gordon Jones.
www.hickoryworks.com

Just a glimpse of countless culinary possibilities

Peaches and Bibb Salad with Hickory Syrup and Lavender Whipped Goat Cheese
Ryan Nelson of the Oceanaire Seafood Room in Indianapolis, IN

Shagbark Hickory Syrup & Bourbon Marinated Pork
Dieter Puska of The Glass Chimney in Carmel, IN

Shagbark Hickory Syrup Glazed Salmon
James Roberts of The Garrison Restaurant in Indianapolis, IN

http://www.theworldwidegourmet.com/epicurious/syrup/hickory.htm