
It’s official. The BYOS movement has begun.
The Today Show’s “Bites” column linked to my recent post about maple sugaring with this description:
“Your pancakes deserve the real deal and so do you. Spoonfed offers some sweet history on the discovery of maple syrup and explains why the real stuff rocks so much. Imitations simply won’t cut it in the foodie world where this gooey treat goes beyond pancakes and is all over our oatmeal, granola and even cooked veggies. This article might have you BYOS (bringing your own syrup) out to breakfast from now on!”
That’s my little travel bottle pictured above. (User tip: Screw the cap tight. And don’t ask my sister how she knows that.)
Turns out my BYOS habit reminded a friend of a 1994 “Seinfeld” episode in which Kramer and Jerry confound Jerry’s girlfriend with this exchange:
Kramer: “We just got back from breakfast. The pancakes were dynamite.”
Jerry: “Hey, is that my maple syrup?” (Kramer hands it over.)
Jerry’s girlfriend: “You bring your own syrup?”
Kramer: “Got to.”
Jerry (to girlfriend): “You got a lot to learn about pancakes.”
In other syrup news: Thought some of you might be interested in my response to a reader’s question about whether chemicals are used in maple syrup production. Short answer: probably not enough to worry about. But check out the full question and answer here.
There’s still time for maple sugaring, so see the original post for events near you.
Note: Switching gears from natural to unnatural… In Monday’s post about next week’s FDA hearings on artificial food dyes, I linked to a petition from the makers of the film “Fresh,” noting a comment deadline of March 23. The “Fresh” folks say they’ll keep collecting comments up to the start of the hearings on March 30, then provide the FDA with an electronic link. So keep those comments coming.

BYOS! I love it. I also appreciate anyone who quotes Seinfeld.
Once anyone has tasted real organic maple syrup, there’s no going back. Thanks for posting the link to the petition site against artificial food dyes.
Yay! That’s so awesome! 🙂 I’m not a fan of pancakes in general, but I have major plans to BYOB (Bring Your Own Butter) when I go to Disney World next year. They do have real butter there, but you can’t count on finding it when you want it, and it’s insipid white stuff in teeny packages when you do find it.
Love real maple syrup. My daughter went one morning and ate breakfast in the school cafeteria (she does that every once in awhile). Later I asked her what did she have she said, “French toast sticks and syrup” I asked how was it she said, “the syrup tasted nasty!” I laughed and told her it was because that wasn’t the real thing. We later watched maple syrup process. Once you eat real food, bad food stands out like bad syrup.