The book of Francois Chartier, “Taste buds and molecules”, presents a few “molecular” pairings between maple syrup and other foods. One of the most rated is with meat or fish. In this case, Chartier doesn’t precise which aromatic molecules* the two have in common with the syrup. I simply believe that the pairing meat/fish+maple syrup works well because the sugars, during the cooking process, react with the amino acids of the meat/fish. That is better known as the Maillard’s reaction that produces those compounds responsible for the typical taste of roasts or grilled food.