Unfiltered Story #300910

Over 40 years ago I was on a business trip to a major city in Maine, USA. For those not familiar with that area, it is in the North East of the USA in an area famous for maple syrup. The morning after I arrived I went to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. The menu listed pancakes with “real” maple syrup. Since I’m from the south, maple syrup is a rare delicacy, so I ordered the pancakes. They were served with a small plastic tub (sealed with a foil top) of “maple flavored syrup”. It was exactly the same syrup as served at McDonalds, and every other fast food place that sells breakfast. I asked the waitress if I could get “real” maple syrup. She said that what I had was real syrup (fructose based corn syrup) with maple “flavor”, so it was OK. I think to them I was just another tourist who wouldn’t know the difference. Since then I’ve wondered what tourists get overseas when they think they are getting authentic local specialties.