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| Mural in Vanier honouring the local sugarbush; and me, trying my best to cut pancakes with mittens... |
As if spring needed anything else to make it sweeter. There's already so many things to lift my spirits and set my heart singing. Brighter days, warmer air, that renewed feeling of hope. The earth is ready to exhale. We have reached that delicate point of equilibrium where things shift from stasis to motion. Red-bellied birds scamper along the ground in fits and starts as they listen to the earth, searching for sounds of movement below. And liquid gold starts to flow again, in the veins of the trees. Right from the trees to my belly. That's right, my friends, it's maple syrup season.
Mark and I went to the Festival des Sucres in Parc Richelieu, in the middle of the city, to celebrate this wonderful time of year. (Another reason to love Ottawa: what other city has a sugar shack within the city core, where you might otherwise find a condo?) It was actually a shockingly cold day, but the sun was warm, and it was well worth it to sit outside in the sun and enjoy some pancakes, the mere purveyor (or sponge) for the object of our collective adoration and celebration.
Really, I'm totally into any festival that celebrates a single, specific food item, like cheese curds, or garlic, but maple syrup has a special place in my heart. Because of it's distinctly Canadian roots (or pre-Canadian really; it's one of the few agricultural processes not introduced by European settlers), the way it reminds me of happy times when I was a kid, visiting the local sugar shacks, or the fact that it comes from trees, not to mention it's oh-so-scrumptious qualities, or the magnificent range of amber hues it can be!
Yes, there are many reasons to love maple syrup. It's the product of a beautifully harmonious relationship with a naturally occuring process. We can't force or fool the tree into producing sap. Only the weather can do that. It takes a knowledgeable producer who knows the rhythm of the trees and the seasons to understand the variations year to year.
There's really just no substitution. Tables just don't make good syrup. ;)
Haha... so true about those tables and their lousy syrup!
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome that you can visit a sugar shack right in Ottawa! I've wanted to go for the past couple of years, but there doesn't seem to be any nearby. Maybe we'll head your way next spring with Bean!