Maple Weekend 2024: Cooking with Culinary Correspondent highlights event

Submitted by the Western New York Maple Producers Association

Maple syrup has many more uses than just tasting great on pancakes. Maple products can be used for breakfast, lunch and dinner meals, as well as desserts.

To demonstrate that, the Western New York Maple Producers are teaming up with Les Trent, senior national correspondent of nationally syndicated news show “Inside Edition,” to create online cooking videos demonstrating how these mouth-watering maple recipes are made. Trent, who worked in Buffalo television and radio before going national, is also an online food influencer known as the Culinary Correspondent.

“People always ask if we’ve got any easy-to-make, maple recipes that we can show them,” said Greg Zimpfer, co-founder of Maple Weekend. “So, we connected with Les to produce some recipes and make them available online. He’s also quite the maple connoisseur.”

The Culinary Correspondent will feature one maple recipe per month leading up to Maple Weekend (10 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 16-17, 23-24). The videos will be released on the 10th of each month. Anyone can see them on YouTube at The Culinary Correspondent or on Instagram at either The Culinary Correspondent or lestrentiii. The WNY Maple Producers will also be placing the videos on their various sites.

Maple Weekend features 50 maple producers across the 15 counties of Western New York who open their facilities so visitors can see how maple syrup and related products are made. They can also sample some product. Admission is free. To find a nearby producer, visit www.mapleweekend.com.

Maple Weekend is a great opportunity for families to experience the American farm and the traditions of making maple syrup. Maple producers will be there to explain their history, the production process. Many locations will also be sharing outstanding recipes using maple syrup and related products.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, New York Maple Producers manufactured 750,000 gallons of maple syrup in 2023, an 8% decrease from the previous year. That was much better than maple producers outside of New York, which showed a 15% decrease. The 2022 crop in New York was valued at $30.6 million with an estimated economic impact of approximately $120 million. The value for 2023’s crop will be released this June.

New York is the second-largest maple-producing state in the U.S., with 2.5 million taps accounting for approximately 18% of the syrup made in the U.S. in 2023.

Maple Weekend was founded in 1995, when a group of Wyoming County maple producers opened their sugarhouses to the public calling the afternoon event Maple Sunday. The event grew steadily from that time, first stretching across Western New York and now across the entire state.

For more information on maple production and purchasing maple products, visit www.mapleweekend.com.