For many areas in the northern hemisphere March is synonymous with the colour green. Yes, green is the colour of the shamrock and all things leprechaun, and while Montreal, Quebec is the city that holds the largest St. Patrick's day parade in North America, I am thinking more along the lines of the shades of spring, the promise of new life.
One of the first signs of the big thaw is maple sap running through the trunk of the mighty maple tree. While the tree is far from showing its' first green buds, we can sense the awakening.
From Water to Syrup
The best sap-producing maple tree is naturally the sugar maple. For simplicities' sake, the easiest way to get at the sweet substance is to drill a hole into a mature trunk. There is a little spout or tap that is inserted into the hole. It is called a spile. The spile may need some help. A few hits of a hammer will do the trick. The spile has a little hook and this is used to hang the bucket. Now we have a natural tap and sink! But the syrup is not ready just yet.
The sap must be brought back to the kitchen and boiled, boiled, and boiled some more until it is reduced to a deep, rich amber syrup. To get 1 litre of maple syrup it takes 40 litres of tree sap. Typically maple syrup is sold in a 540 ml can, a little over half a litre. You would need a whole lot of sugar maples to supply a household, a restaurant, or better yet 80 percent of the world's maple consumption, which is one of Quebec's claims to fame.
The Quebec Sugar Shack and Meal
The sugar shack or la cabane à sucre in French, features the harvest of its' maple syrup and products or of nearby farms. Think of it as a breakfast restaurant with seatings available to reserve throughout the day and into the night. The night time sessions are more likely to feature les chansonniers, singers of traditional Quebec music (fiddle heavy for knee-slapping fun). Some of the traditional food you would find here are soupe aux pois (pea soup), fèves au lard (baked beans), oreille de crisse (I'm not going to translate this one. Let's just say bacon but more deeply fried), saucisses (pork sausage), pommes de terre rissolées (home fries), omelette cooked in a cast-iron pan (omelette du terroir), creton (like a pork pâté), crêpes de sarrasin (buckwheat pancakes), tarte au sucre (sugar pie) and of course tire sur la neige (taffy on the snow). Many of these places offer activities such as sledding, hayrides, campfires, and tours of their maple production, which has become quite sophisticated over the decades.
Maple Taffy on the Snow
There is nothing quite like eating hot thick, and extremely sticky taffy over fresh snow. If you thought we were finished boiling then you thought wrong. To get a taffy-like consistency you need to boil again and use a candy thermometer to get the syrup to 112 degrees Celsius (234 degrees Fahrenheit). The hot taffy is poured over a trough of fresh snow. You are invited to roll it up over a popsicle stick.
In the video the gentlemen pouring the taffy is explaining to us that you have to wait 10-15 seconds (an eternity) before you start to roll. This allows the taffy to cool slightly so that it is the right consistency to roll up and enjoy. There is nothing like it. So pure and delicious on the crystals of new snow. Through the video imagine the smell of campfire mixed with cold, fresh air. Something to add to your "bucket" list for sure!