Sugaring off is a cultural rite-of-passage in Montreal. A short-lived season that varies every year, somewhere from late February to early May, perhaps the best known activity is eating hot maple taffy off fresh snow. Hot-taffy-on-snow stands start appearing in town around early March near Mont-Royal Metro, the Jean-Talon Market and other select locations around the city. While they soothe urgent maple cravings, they also bring up the nostalgia for an authentic sugar shack or cabane à sucre experience.
A Traditional Sugar Shack Experience
Let's face it, the real sugaring off happens outside Montreal, in the 200 or so sugar shacks spread over the province, many of which are equipped -- to the delight of toddlers -- with a mini-farm too. There's plenty to do, depending on the sugar shack you choose, before stuffing up on the pièce de résistance, the all-you-can-eat maple drenched dinner.
For anyone new to Montreal and the very concept of offing sugar, here's a breakdown of what you can expect at your first sugar shack meal:
- pea soup
- baked beans in maple syrup
- tourtière (if you're lucky)
- country style sausages in maple syrup
- maple smoked ham
- "oreilles de crisse" ("crisse," a truly versatile curse word, translates here into either "damn ears" or "Christ's ears," but they're actually pork rinds)
- oven baked omelettes
- eggs cooked in maple syrup
- potatoes
- cretons
- sweet pickles
- pancakes
- sugar pie
- pouding chômeur (or "unemployed person's pudding," a deliciously simple cake baked with maple syrup or brown sugar)
