Sugar Shack at home
- Annemarie Bolduc
- Apr 10, 2021
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 5
How I managed to recreate a cabane à sucre experience… far from Québec!
After a few years living abroad, I started to miss the food of the cabanes à sucre (sugar shacks), those generous, maple-filled meals that mark the arrival of spring during the maple syrup harvest in Québec and share a story about it on this blog.
At first, this post was about a food photography challenge (and looking back at the first photos, I can say I was very much a beginner!). But what stayed with me over time wasn’t the shoot, but the realisation that this tradition can be recreated anywhere. Achieving this feast at home became an essential part of my cookbook Québec Kitchen Abroad. To create a cabane meal at home, you don’t necessarily need a sugar bush or snow. Just a few simple ingredients, some pure maple syrup… and a bit of intention.
Sugar shack time in Québec • Photography © Bottle and Brush Studio 2023
"PARTIE DE SUCRE", WHEREVER YOU ARE
In Québec, when the spring thaw comes, maple water is tapped from the trees and boiled in sugar houses to produce syrup. People gather with family, workmates or friends at sugar shacks of all kinds, from private rustic cabins to large convivial venues, and even chef-owned shacks offering a more modern gastronomic experience. Sugar shack buffets are a festive experience that you don’t easily forget, and usually not something you do more than once a year or every couple of years (unless, like me, you go years without one!). A partie de sucre is all about gathering. Long tables, shared dishes, and that unmistakable mix of sweet and savoury. These places come alive during the short season, especially around Easter. The food reflects what was historically available at the end of winter: beans, peas, potatoes, bread, preserved condiments, and pork in many forms. And always, maple syrup, freshly made. When you're reproducing this at home, it may sound a bit too much, but it is possible.
A TRADITION YOU CAN RECREATE
When I first attempted this in Australia, I quickly realised that most of the dishes rely on simple, accessible ingredients. That’s the beauty of it. Even the essentials, like maple baked beans (fèves au lard à l’érable) and Canadian pea soup, can be adapted easily. For some elements, like cretons (meat spread), I had to learn from scratch, as they cannot be found outside Québec. I skipped the oreilles de crisse, but bacon is a must. Finding streaky bacon became a small victory when I finally found the right cut. A sugar shack meal is generous by nature. You don’t need the full buffet, especially for a small party; even a few dishes will do. On the table, you will typically also find eggs, bacon, sausages, ham, potatoes, bread, cabbage salad, and condiments. Maple syrup is placed on the table from the start, as pouring it over everything is part of the tradition (but optional). After all that, dessert somehow still happens. This can include sugar pie, pouding chômeur, pancakes, and eggs cooked in maple syrup, a decadent specialty. And then, the final moment, maple taffy on snow. If you don’t have snow, crushed ice works just fine. If I managed to reproduce all the described dish in Australia, you will too.
At the end, it doesn’t have to be perfect. It just has to feel like home and keep the tradition alive. In my cookbook Québec Kitchen Abroad, you will find all the recipes and more about sugar shack, how maply syrup is made, and so much more!
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