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Hello everyone. Today we're going to look at another natural food product and that's maple syrup.
大家好。今天我们来看看另一种天然食品——枫糖浆。
What is this exactly? Well, maple syrup looks rather like clear honey, but it's not made by bees; it's produced from the plant fluid–or sap–inside the maple tree and that makes maple syrup a very natural product.
它到底是什么呢？枫糖浆看起来很像透明的蜂蜜，但它不是蜜蜂产的；它来自枫树内部的植物液（即树液），这使得枫糖浆成为一种非常天然的产品。
Maple syrup is a thick, golden, sweet-tasting liquid that can be bought in bottles or jars and poured onto food such as waffles and ice cream or used in the baking of cakes and pastries.
枫糖浆是一种质地粘稠、颜色金黄、带有甜味的液体，装在瓶子或罐子里售卖，可以倒在华夫饼和冰淇淋等食物上，或用于烘焙蛋糕和甜品。
It contains no preservatives or added ingredients, and it provides a healthy alternative to refined sugar.
它不含防腐剂或添加成分，是精制糖的健康替代品。
Let's just talk a bit about the maple tree itself, which is where maple syrup comes from.
让我们来谈谈枫树，枫树就是枫糖浆的来源。
So, there are many species of maple tree, and they'll grow without fertilizer in areas where there's plenty of moisture in the soil.
枫树的种类很多，它们生长在土壤含水量大的地区，不需要化肥就能长起来。
However, they'll only do this if another important criterion is fulfilled, which is that they must have full or partial sun exposure during the day and very cool nights–and I'll talk more about that in a minute.
然而，只有在满足另一个重要标准的情况下，它们才能健康生长，那就是它们必须在白天完全或部分接受阳光直射而且生长地的夜晚要非常凉爽。我马上会详细介绍这一点。
There are only certain parts of the world that provide all these conditions: one is Canada, and by that, I mean all parts of Canada, and the other is the north-eastern states of North America.
世界上只有某些地区能满足所有这些条件：一个是加拿大，我指的是加拿大的所有地区，另一个是北美的东北部各州。
In these areas, the climate suits the trees perfectly.
在这些地区，气候非常适合枫树的生长。
In fact, Canada produces over two-thirds of the world's maple syrup, which is why the five-pointed maple leaf is a Canadian symbol and has featured on the flag since 1964.
事实上，加拿大生产的枫糖浆占世界总产量的三分之二以上，这就是五角枫叶是加拿大的象征的原因，五角枫叶自1964年以来一直出现在加拿大国旗上。
So how did maple syrup production begin?
那么一开始枫糖浆是如何被生产的呢？
Well, long before Europeans settled in these parts of the world, the indigenous communities had started producing maple sugar.
早在欧洲人在这些地区定居之前，土著人就已经开始生产枫糖了。
They bored holes in the trunks of maple trees and used containers made of tree bark to collect the liquid sap as it poured out.
他们在枫树的树干上钻孔，用树皮制成的容器收集流出来的树液。
As they were unable to keep the liquid for any length of time–they didn't have storage facilities in those days–they boiled the liquid by placing pieces of rock that had become scorching hot from the sun into the sap.
那时，由于他们没有储存设备，无法长期保存这些液体，他们把在太阳下晒得滚烫的岩石块放进树液中来煮沸树液。
They did this until it turned into sugar, and they were then able to use this to sweeten their food and drinks.
如此反复，直到树液变成糖，然后土著人可以用它来增加食物和饮料的甜味。
Since that time, improvements have been made to the process, but it has changed very little overall.
从那时起，加工过程有所改进，但总体上变化不大。
