Sweet Canada
The sugar shacks of Montreal (sugar coma included) 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. by Judy Colbert Photos: Courtesy of respective venues
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he 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 syrup can cost as little as $7 a pint to more than $40 a half-gallon, or about $1,500 (CAN) a barrel. 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 station 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 revisit the sugar shack’s traditional menu and will have their own after-festivities fun. www.promenadewellington.com.
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
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WOW Power to the people
