Thursday, March 23, 2017
This very casual, near gluttonous, dining experience is inspired by the profound traditions of the Québécois way of life by serving heartening dishes like beans, meat pies, fried pork rinds (oreilles de crisse), pea soup, meat pie and so much more! Here are the places where you will enjoy unique sugar shack experiences in and around Québec City.
La Sucrerie Blouin
Tradition with a view
Credit: Allison Van Rassel
Its location will leave you breathless as its ambience plunges you in the heart of Québec’s traditional, family-operated sugar shack know-how. La Sucrerie Blouin on Île d’Orléans is by far my favourite authentic sugar shack experience in the region. Inside a typical building with a tin red roof, the large semi-rustic dining hall features long tables decorated with red and white tablecloths. The ambience is enhanced with Quebecois folklore while litres of old-fashioned boiled maple syrup infuse the traditional dishes. Finish the meal with a traditional horse-drawn carriage ride across the maple grove.
Laurie Raphaël & La Serre
Contemporary & healthy cuisine
Credit: Allison Van Rassel
Thursdays and Fridays from March 9th to April 14th (for lunch), the Laurie Raphaël restaurant is slipping into black and red flannel shirts to offer a refined maple-infused menu: smoked salmon crêpes with maple beurre blanc, pork rillette, quail egg and maple cucumber, maple wood smoked mackerel, maple-lacquered duck with pea soup-like garnishes and French toast with maple Chantilly and sea buckthorn jam. A blind tasting lunch menu highlighting maple is also offered during that same period.
Its health-centric counterpart La Serre also created a special menu with vegetarian and vegan dishes like barbecue Tempeh wrap, cabbage salad with fir oil and a raw dessert made with apples. How about a cup of maple-sweetened hot chocolate to go?
Érablière du Lac-Beauport
A year-round option
Credit: Érablière du Lac-Beauport
While most of sugar shacks in the province are only open during spring, the Lessard family’s Érablière du Lac-Beauport takes you in the heart of a typical sugar shack season no matter the time of year. This traditional sugar shack also showcases a maple museum where sugaring traditions are related, starting with the discovery of maple sugar water to modern boiling techniques. The menu features traditional dishes including maple flavoured brown beans with pork, maple ham, homemade fruit ketchup, maple taffy and more. The Érablière du Lac-Beauport also offers a vegetarian menu.
Other Sugar Shack Experiences
Credit: Francis Gagnon
Enjoy traditional Québec cuisine with maple syrup, dance and music... plus maple taffy on snow in one of the sugar shacks of the Québec City Area.
About Allison Van Rassel
Journalist, columnist and blogger, Allison is passionate about Québec City’s culinary culture. Curious and aware of the latest culinary trends, Allison makes the region’s foodie culture shine bright.
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