The most expensive commodity on your breakfast table is probably not the heirloom pork or the artisanal coffee or even the free-range eggs. It is probably the maple syrup. Ounce for ounce, maple syrup ...

Growing up in Ontario, Canada, one of my core childhood memories was piling into the car, crossing the border into Quebec, and heading straight for a cabane à sucre—those quintessential sugar shacks ...