Gastronomic Visit to a Sugar Shack

If the sugaring-off season is synonymous with gourmet pleasures, maple syrup, taffy sticks on snow and lots and lots of sugar, it's also synonymous with sharing and great encounters with family and friends, but also with those who produce the true gastronomic and cultural symbol that is Quebec's delicious maple syrup. So we visited the Lussier family maple grove at Jean-Talon Market to give you a behind-the-scenes look at the work behind the famous syrup cane.

sugaring-off time, trough the seasons

For many of us, maple syrup season starts with the end of winter, when longer days and warmer weather announce the arrival of spring, but the work of maple syrup producers begins well before the month of March. For the Lussiers, it starts in November, because the trees must be prepared for the next season. In November, the work consists of checking and repairing equipment that may have been damaged by the weather, fallen branches and animals. Wood must also be cut and corded to boil the sap once production begins.

In January, after the holiday season, it’s time to start tapping. These are very hard and very physical working days for maple syrup producers, because the deep snow makes the work of tapping and moving around in the forest more difficult. Once all the trees have been tapped and tubed, it’s time to be patient while waiting for the sap to start running.

When the sap begins running and filling the tubs, and our excitement about tasting the first syrup of the year begins to mount, the maple syrup producers must stay vigilant in maintaining the taps and the tubing to ensure that they won’t lose a drop of sap if something breaks. Everyone hopes for cold nights and warm days, above zero, so that the sap runs in abundance.

When the sap has been gathered and boiled, the long-awaited moment arrives to taste the first syrup of the year and to transform it into delicious maple products.

golden, amber or dark? It depends on when the sap flows

Although dark syrup with a robust flavour is trendy now, according to the Lussiers, light syrup is perfect for making delicious maple butter. The colour of the syrup changes with the temperature and the progression of the season. The first sap, when the days are colder, makes a clearer syrup. As the season advances and the weather gets warmer, the sap becomes darker and the syrup that results is also darker. Every colour of syrup is good—it’s simply a question of taste.

sugaring-off time at your public markets

Because sugaring-off time is the time of the year when we meet around the delicious aroma of boiling syrup, we invite you to join us to celebrate maple products in your markets. 

If you want to treat yourself and pick up some delicious maple products you can consult the list of all of the maple syrup producers in your markets to organize your next trip to the market.

For advice about your next purchase of a can of maple syrup, consult the article by Florence-Léa of Chic Frigo sans Fric, here.

Happy sugaring-off time!