June 22, 2010 Cabane a Sucre
It is easy to take maple syrup for granted in our over-sweetened world. But imagine four hundred years ago, before the big slave plantations of the Caribbean started sending their magic into the north, when the only sweet thing was apple cider. The delicate, airy goodness of maple syrup might just have made a hard life bearable.
But for me it means one more opportunity to eat weird things. The Rotary Club of Laval has brought eight buses of us out to the Famille Constantine”s Sugar Shack in what appears to be most-un-maple-y suburbia. There is a mosquito-infested tour of the maple grove, and Pierre Dubois in his beaver cap tells some fable of the syrup in ugly patois. Interestingly, though, before iron pots arrived the syrup was concentrated by letting the surface freeze and then removing the ice, night after night. The “cabin” is a huge banquet hall that looks like it sees a lot of weddings – frilly white stuff everywhere – but we are hungry, so hungry that we start on the pickled beets and condiments. There is pea soup – is that really Canada’s only contribution to the cuisine of the world? – and a fair country pate. And then it starts: Cocktail wieners with maple syrup. Pork and beans with maple syrup. Maple-cured pork rinds. A thick light Spanish tortilla with maple cured ham. And of course a big jug of syrup to soak it all in. And for desert – now THIS was good! – delicious vanilla ice cream and apple pie, soaked in, you guessed it. I was relieved when Rick won the bulging basket of maple products; our bottle has been in the fridge since Trudeau was PM, and I think it is going to stay that way.
- Leave a comment
- Posted under Uncategorized
