Maple syrup may claim center stage at a sugaring-off party here, but a truly Quebecois celebration also stars a groaning board laden with hearty soupe aux pois, tourtiere, creton and oreilles de crises. (That’s pea soup, meat pie, coarse country pate and crispy bits of salt pork, by the way. Trust us–you’ll gobble them up.)
There will be music of the fiddling sort. Sometimes dancing. And, depending on one’s enthusiasm and athleticism, the opportunity to a) cross-country ski, b) ride a horse-drawn sleigh through the maple bush, or c) sit in front of a fireplace.
The key to success in all of this, of course, is to arrive at a sugaring-off equipped with an Olympic-class sweet tooth.
That factor alone may explain why schoolchildren across Quebec look forward to annual pilgrimages–okay, they sometimes call them school field trips–to the province’s hundreds of cabanes a sucre, or sugar shacks. Where else can one indulge in ham basted with maple syrup, beans cooked with maple syrup, pancakes with maple syrup and, the ultimate meal finisher, sugar pie?
Yet this part of the feast was only a warm-up to the big event as I found out late last March when my husband and twin stepdaughters traveled to a sugar shack, Sucrerie des Gallant, near Montreal. Although the pre-teens had happily demolished syrup-drenched plates of pancakes and pieces of sugar pie–a mix of sugar, heavy cream and maple baked in a crust–they seemed perpetually distracted by the swinging door to the kitchen.
“Attendez! Wait!” they would caution, fidgeting as the meal progressed.
(Or, maybe it was just all that sugar?)
Then, the instant a sugar shack employee emerged from the kitchen holding a pitcher aloft and headed out the front door, the girls were after him.
It was time for the event’s centerpiece: Tire sur neige. For kids–and kids at heart–this involves accompanying the pitcher-toter outside where the contents of the pitcher–hot maple syrup–is drizzled onto pristine snow that has been piled into a carved-out tree trunk. As it’s drizzled, guests swirl the thickening syrup onto a small wooden stick (often like the type used for ice cream bars) into a sticky, gooey lollipop-like confection.
You think sugar rules at Halloween? Bush league.
Sugaring-offs are annual rituals, from Vermont to Quebec, Wisconsin to Ontario–just about anywhere sugar maples, the primary source for maple syrup, grow. In the Canadian province of Quebec, where 10,000-plus maple syrup producers tap trees for a good portion of the world’s maple syrup, traditions run deep. (In fact, Plessisville, a town between Montreal and Quebec City, claims the title of the world’s maple capital.)
In March and early April, when the sun starts spending a little more time on the job–warming the trees and the countryside–tapping the maple trees begins in earnest. Head out of Montreal in most any direction. When you hit the countryside off the expressways, you are bound to encounter stands of maple trees. How can you tell? Well, sometimes the trees will simply have taps and buckets affixed to them to catch, drop by drop, the crystal-clear sap. More often than not, though, you’ll spot what seems like miles of plastic tubing affixed to the trees–a contemporary take on an age-old process. The sap travels through the tubes to the sugar shack. Once collected, the clear sap is heated and reduced to the amber sweet liquid favored by pancake and French toast lovers.
This year, because of the weather, tapping the maples was begun a bit earlier than usual.
“Seasons vary from one year to the next. We started boiling [sap] in late February,” said Linda Gallant, who runs the Sucrerie Gallant and nearby Auberge des Gallant with her husband, Gerard. She expects the sugaring-off will continue until the end of April.
At the nearby Sucrerie de la Montagne, which is also located in the Rigaud Mountain region, Pierre Faucher tapped trees in early March. “It is a different kind of season. Spring is coming early, but we still have a couple feet of snow in the woods,” said Faucher. “Usually we tap around the third week in March. The old folks that used to work here before used to do it after the first full moon of March. We will go into the first or second week of April.”
Sugar shacks in Quebec range from the basic (read: stone floors, minimal amenities–hence the name shacks) to nicely appointed buildings. Some are seasonal; some are year-round tourist destinations. Some simply do the maple syrup thing; others offer up meals, music and dancing, reviving traditions that date to the early days of the French-Canadian province. If there is enough snow, you can take sleigh rides at some, cross-country ski near others.
About an hour west of Montreal, in the Rigaud Mountain region of Quebec, via Autoroute 40 West to Exit 17 and winding country roads, we tracked down Sucrerie des Gallant.
The Gallant family settled in the area in 1972, opening the auberge and a small sugar shack. When an ice storm in 1998 damaged a large number of maples on their property, they decided to replace the small shack, using the damaged trees to build a high-ceiling, beamed log cabin nearby for their Sucrerie des Gallant. The huge dining area, anchored at one end by a large fireplace, is dominated by the buffet. When we arrived late on a sunny Saturday morning, several tables were already filled with revelers partaking of the meat pies, pancakes and sugar pies–as well as a locally brewed maple-flavored beer.
We joined in, working our way through the sausages, pancakes (including buckwheat), eggs, potatoes, crusty rolls and baked beans, a typical breakfast accompaniment in Quebec. As our meal wound down, a fiddler began to play lively Quebecois folk tunes. A corporate gathering of 50 or so employees of a local telephone company arrived, a factor that ratcheted up the celebratory nature of the place.
When there is snow, Sucrerie des Gallant has sleigh rides on busy weekends; you can also rent a dogsled. We took a hike through the snow and woods in an attempt to burn off a few calories before heading back into Montreal.
At Sucrerie de la Montagne, the musical entertainment features a fiddler as well as a spoon player. The De la Montagne sugar shack was begun by Faucher and his wife, Sandy, in 1978. Over the years, they have built several additional structures on their property so that now the couple and their 24-year-old son, Stefan, oversee a bakery, the sugar house plus four simple cabins available for rental that, as Faucher said, capture “the old traditional life.” The pea soup-to-sugar pie feast is served at the table, family style, at Sucrerie de la Montagne. There are also sleigh rides.
Both sugar shacks, Gallant and Montagne, are located near cross-country ski trails. But you’ll have to bring your own equipment. As well as your sweet tooth, of course.
IF YOU GO
GETTING THERE
American Airlines, Air Canada and United Airlines all have non-stop flights–approximately 2 hours–from Chicago to Montreal. Occasionally, Chicago-to-Montreal flights are available at weekend, getaway rates; check with the individual airlines. The most convenient way to travel from Montreal to the two sugar shacks mentioned here is via a rental car. Montreal’s Dorval Airport is served by most of the major car rental firms.
SUGAR SHACK FACTS
Sugar shacks are located throughout much of Quebec. Visit the Quebec Tourism Web site (see below) under the “Attractions” link.
Because some of the larger sugar shacks can get very busy, especially on weekends when Montrealers head to the country for sugaring-off parties, it would be wise to call ahead.
Sucrerie des Gallant, 1160 chemin Saint-Henri, Tres St-Redempteur, Montagne de Rigaud, Quebec J0P 1P0; 800-641-4241; 450-459-4241; www.sucreriedesgallant.com. Open to the public until April 30, Wednesday through Sunday; Monday and Tuesday by reservation. On weekdays, the meal is about $9.50 U.S.; Friday night through Sunday night, it is about $12.50.
When there is snow, that fee includes a sleigh ride on weekends. Dog sledding, available when snow permits, costs CN $15.75 per person per hour.
Sucrerie de la Montagne, 300 Rang Saint-Georges, Rigaud, Quebec J0P 1P0; 450-451-0831; or Internet at www.sucreriedelamontagne.com. The family-style meals are $17.30 per person.
SLEEPING ARRANGEMENTS
Rigaud is between Montreal and Ottawa, approximately one hour from Montreal. A range of hotels are available in Montreal.
Both sugar shacks have lodging available, with an upscale country inn associated with the Sucrerie des Gallant and simpler cabins part of the Sucrerie de la Montagne.
Auberge des Gallant, 1171 chemin Saint-Henri, Sainte-Marthe, Quebec J0P 1W0; 800-641-4241; 450-459-4241; www.gallant.qc.ca.
There are a range of special packages available starting at $62 per person; the Sweet Expectations package, for example, is $252 for two people with two nights stay and meals.
At Sucrerie de la Montagne, there are four log cabins with fireplaces. They cost $79 per couple; packages are available. Check the Surcrerie Web site listed above.
CURRENCY EVENTS
All prices were converted at the rate of $1 Canadian=63 cents U.S.
INFORMATION
Quebec Tourist Office, 877-266-5687; www.bonjourquebec.com
— J.H.
