Many families used the extra time this past long weekend for maple taffy parties.
Our maple syrup taffy party tradition started during the pandemic when there was nowhere to go with friends but outside in the fresh open air.
A group of us tapped into our French Canadian maple syrup aficionado, Guy Pitre, to deliver a fun-filled outdoor maple taffy experience in my backyard.
Guy’s syrup skills come from his early days growing up in Noëlville. He recalls all the years his dad spent working for the Sirop Séguin Sugarbush in Monetville, east of Sudbury.
The fourth generation farm started in the 1950s and Guy’s father, Raymond Pitre, would spend many a day there.
“My father started working there at age 16, tending to the horses and then in the spring he would collect the brimming buckets from the tree tapping on the farm,” Pitre said. “Later on in life, we would go on Sundays after church when work at our own hobby farm with the big red farmhouse was done. We would enjoy the farm and syrup together as a family.”
Both the passion for horses and maple syrup were highlighted in Raymond Pitre’s obituary in 2022. He was 75 years old when he died of pulmonary fibrosis.
It was the sweet stuff that stuck for Pitre, who was born with a bit of a sweet tooth.
“Once I had a family, I would host maple syrup parties,” he said. “Only we lived in the city and I couldn’t tap trees, so we would cheat a bit. We would boil already purchased syrup and pour it on trays of snow to form taffy on a stick and the kids were thrilled.”
Each spring when his daughter Quéline was younger, buckets would hang from the maple trees in the front yard for effect. Parties would take place on their property in New Sudbury.
“It has always been a spring tradition at our home to educate the kids and slowly boil and stir the taffy to build the excitement for the anticipation of taffy in a few hours,” he reminisces.
Our current parties in Minnow Lake have followed the tradition but now for a mainly adult crowd.
Due to the lack of precipitation in recent years, we have been forced to preserve snow in the freezer long before the March melts when the party takes place.
Everyone contributes to the spread of outdoor friendly snacks, which includes sausages cooked over the firepit.
Then we watch as Guy follows his dad’s boil card instructions to a tee using a propane element for the perfect consistency.
The boil temperatures do fluctuate a bit depending on the temperature outside at the time of the boil.
Even when all grown up, Guy’s daughter, Quéline, makes an appearance year after year helping to keep the tradition alive for Pépère Raymond.
Anastasia Rioux is a writer in Greater Sudbury. Let’s Eat! is made possible by our Community Leaders Program.
