Our outing in the countryside of Quebec Province included a stop in the resort area of Mont Tremblant ended with supper at the Sugar Shack. Maple syrup was part of every course, starting with pea soup. It wasn’t absolutely necessary to put maple syrup in pea soup, but the locals do, so why not. Then there was maple cured ham with baked eggs, a meat pie that thankfully didn’t taste sweet, and an assortment of pickle products to cut the overall sweetness. There were three desserts. One was a pecan pie without the pecans, obviously made with maple syrup. Another was plain pancakes with as much maple syrup as you wanted, and the third was maple toffee rolled in artificial snow. For a diabetic this dinner was a challenge.
We learned a bit about how maple syrup is produced. Weather conditions have to be optimal, with freezing nights and warm days. The tree you tap has to be at least 30 years old; over 100 is okay. The French Canadian who was instructing us said that you have to find the front of the tree. I was puzzled by that because the tree we were looking at was as perfectly round as any other tree, and I didn’t see a front or back side. Well, if you stand facing the tree and the sun rises on your right and sets on your left, you are by definition looking at the front of the tree. Otherwise known as the south side.
After being educated and fed it was time for music and dancing. The guitarist who played French Canadian folk songs also led us in contra dancing. A good time was had by all.
Tomorrow morning we get an early start on a train trip to Quebec.
We learned a bit about how maple syrup is produced. Weather conditions have to be optimal, with freezing nights and warm days. The tree you tap has to be at least 30 years old; over 100 is okay. The French Canadian who was instructing us said that you have to find the front of the tree. I was puzzled by that because the tree we were looking at was as perfectly round as any other tree, and I didn’t see a front or back side. Well, if you stand facing the tree and the sun rises on your right and sets on your left, you are by definition looking at the front of the tree. Otherwise known as the south side.
After being educated and fed it was time for music and dancing. The guitarist who played French Canadian folk songs also led us in contra dancing. A good time was had by all.
Tomorrow morning we get an early start on a train trip to Quebec.
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