Receta My First Authentic Canadian Food Memory
Gallant Sugar Shack Maple Syrup Pie
We entered a wooden cabin which was surrounded by tapped maple trees and sat at long wooden tables with people we didn’t know. First we were served a robust pea soup, and then plates of boiled potatoes, beets, ham, eggs, pancakes, oreilles de crisses (deep-fried smoked pork jowls) and pitchers of pure maple syrup would be passed down the table for people to serve themselves. We ate really good, simple home cooked food and made new friends at the same.
For dessert, we were treated to delicious maple syrup pies, sugar pies and pecan pies. At the end of the meal, we went outside for the traditional ‘tire d’èrable’ (maple taffy).
That was the first time I poured pure maple syrup on any of my food. I immediately fell in love with incredible sweet taste. Since then maple syrup has been a staple in my kitchen. I have baked delicious desserts and cooked wonderful meals with it. It’s the only syrup my family will pour on their pancakes or waffles.
I am a first generation Italian Canadian and was born and raised in Montreal. Although my parents assimilated in the Canadian culture, they upheld their Italian traditions in our home. We spoke Italian, our cuisine was Italian and we celebrated holidays the traditional Italian way.
I learned to speak French playing with the French speaking children in our neighborhood and attended English school. I remember the children poking fun at me during lunch time while I was eating my mortadella or chicken cutlet sandwich snuggled between slices of Italian bread. My Mom would include a fresh fruit and biscotti in my lunch bag. The other children would be eating egg salad sandwiches made with white bread or cheddar cheese sandwiches. When I mentioned the bread to my Mom, she would say that bread is to make toast, not sandwiches.
I am sure I have had many authentic Canadian food memories since my school days, but the most memorable one was when I first visited a Cabane à Sucre (Sugar Shack) many years ago during the maple season in Quebec (from the end of February until the end of April depending on the climate).
My husband and I still maintain the Italian traditions as our parents did in our home, but our daughters have been exposed to Canadian and other ethnic cuisines at an early age. We celebrate the maple syrup season each year by visiting our favorite cabane à sucre, the Gallant Sugar Shack to enjoy a traditional maple syrup meal. We always leave with a box with cans of pure maple syrup, maple sugar and one or two of their delicious maple syrup pies.
Gallant Sugar Shack
Valerie from A Canadian Foodie founded the Canadian Food Project which began June 7 2013. As we (participants) share our collective stories across the vastness of our Canadian landscape through our regional food experiences, we hope to bring global clarity to our Canadian culinary identity through the cadence of our concerted Canadian voice. Please join us in our quest.
Below you will find the recipe for the Gallant Sugar Shack’s Maple Syrup Pie courtesy of the Gallant Sugar Shack.
Gallant Sugar Shack Maple Syrup Pie
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Canadian
- 1 cup medium or amber maple syrup
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ¾ cup 2% Carnation condensed milk
- 2 eggs
1 unbaked pie crust
Preheat oven to 350° F.
Whisk the first four ingredients in a bowl until well blended.
Pour ingredients into unbaked pie crust.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Remove pie from oven. Center of pie will jiggle. The pie will continue to bake slowly resulting in a silky texture.
3.2.1753
Photo credits for Gallant Sugar Shack photo: Michel Julien
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