The sugar shacks of Montreal

When winter’s bone-chilling temperatures begin to ebb, the sap of maple trees start to flow and Canadians are thrilled that spring is on its way. With spring comes sugar shacks and delicious, fun maple syrup festivals with sugar tastings and other activities—everyone is celebrating the huge impact the maple sugar industry has on the country.

The Quebec Federation of Maple Syrup Producers claim 72 percent of the world’s maple syrup is produced in Quebec. That’s more than 12 million gallons a year. Residents of the province also consume more maple products per capita than anywhere else in the world.

THE LUMBERJACK PARTY

If you have just a few minutes and maybe only a passing interest in all things syrupy, you can experience a basic hot, tasty maple taffy on fresh snow at various maple taffy stands near some metro sta tion by early-to mid-March usually through mid-April.

For a more extensive experience, visit one of the 200 or so “cabane a sucre” or sugar shacks through the province of Quebec as Canadians rejoice the return of spring. While most of the festivities are located outside Montréal, there’s one nearby at the Promenade Wellington in the Verdun section of town. The ninth annual Cabane Panache Et Bois Rond is a free urban sugar shack and lumberjack party scheduled for the evenings of March 21 through 24, 2019. It’s four nights of maple syrup and wood cabin glory with square dancing, log-throwing, ax-throwing contests, woodcutting, two-man saw demonstrations, festive concerts, traditional foods (maple taffy, sugar pie, pancakes with syrup, maple cocktails, etc.), and 100,000+ of your newest best friends. Twenty-one local restaurants will rev isit the sugar shack’s traditional menu and will have their own after-festivities fun.

SUGARING OFF IN MONTRÉAL

The Morgan Arboretum at McGill University has one of the few maple groves left on the island of Montréal. The 245-hectare forest reserve has the Cabane A Sucre Montréal where they offer a two-hour guided sleigh ride tour with a stop at a sugar shack. See how maple syrup used to be made by being boiled over a wood fire. Taffy (made with the syrup) on snow, German sausages, hot dogs, and beverages are ready for purchase. Jim Fyles, director of the arboretum says, “Weather permitting, the sugaring off days are scheduled to be open Sunday, March 17, 24 (1 to 5 p.m.), and perhaps 31. Take some time to enjoy tobogganing, X-country skiing, and strolling in the late-winter woods, with buckets hanging off the trees and steam rising from the sugar shack. It’s a lovely way to help us all emerge from a long winter.”

YEAR-ROUND SUGAR HIGH

Pierre Faucher (he’s the one with the magnificent big white beard) and his son Stefan (smaller, darker beard) produce about 400 gallons of syrup a year. Their Sucrerie de la Montagne, about an hour’s drive from Montréal, has been drawing crowds since 1978. While most sugar shacks are seasonal, this one is open all year round, although the sugaring off festivities are in February, March, and April. That’s when you can ride in a horse-drawn sleigh or wagon, have an all-you-caneat sugaring-off feast, listen to live music, have a maple-taffy-on-snow tasting, and visit the general store. Here at the official “Site du Patrimoine Quebecois” (Quebec Heritage Site), the sugar shack is in the middle of a 120-acre forest of century-old maple trees atop Mont Rigaud, west of Montreal. They also have a maple-infused cologne. There’s dining on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evening by reservation, and they offer overnight accommodations in a traditional log cabin.

MAPLE FINE DINING

Martin Picard, noted Montréal chef-owner of Au Pied de Cochon, opens a La Cabane à Sucre Au Pied de Cochon in St-Benoit-de-Mirabel, about 45 minutes from Montréal, in mid-February. It features a “return to classics” that centers on traditional Québécois cuisine and an elaborate feast around maple sugar products. Picard is known for his signature multi-pound meals with a large amount of foie gras and culinary innovations.

SWEET FAMILY FUN

Le Chalet des Érables, now operated by the sixth generation of the same family, is located 25 miles northwest of Montréal in the Laurentian region. The sugar shack offers a traditional menu, and a variety of activities (some free, others (rides) for a fee), with a major focus on activities for children. You can see the boiler room, a general store, artisans from Quebec, and a mini farm. You can ride an antique car or a mechanical bull or both. And, for children, there are pony rides, a pirate ship, bumper cars, a carriage ride, train ride, inflatable structures, and a carousel. Make time for live entertainment and a dance floor.

HISTORY AND SYRUP

L’Hermine Cabane à Sucre is a Quebec historical site about an hour from Montreal and is open all year. Started in 1963, it has expanded from a dairy farm to today’s reception area, restaurant (Thursday through Sunday), and maple syrup production facility. The cozy bistro-bar eatery menu offers such mouth-watering fare as maple-baked beans, crispy fried pork rinds, vegetarian pizza, baby ribs, pea soup, and maple syrup tart. During the sugaring-off time, there are horse-drawn sleigh rides on weekends and traditional meals. During the off-season, there are educational tours, weddings, family reunions, and other special events. The shop sells maple products, including maple-leaf-shaped glass bottles of syrup, maple candy, cinnamon syrup, maple syrup with lavender, and nuts and cranberries coated with maple syrup.

Stay sweet in Canada and gorge on the goodness of the maple trees. We’ll fly you there! WOW air offers cheap flights to Montréal and Toronto in Canada from Europe every day of the week, all year round.