All About Maple > Maple Syrup > A taste of history

An excerpt from Le livre du sirop d’érable by Jean Côté and a note from Pierre Faucher of the Sucrerie de la Montagne in Rigaud

“Pierre Boucher (1622-1717), who arrived at Quebec City in 1635, the year Champlain died, is considered to be Quebec’s first writer. His memoirs, written in 1695, bear witness to his thorough knowledge of the ‘new country’ in which he lived, never suspecting that he would become one of the most important men of his time. He died at the age of 95, leaving many descendants and memories of a pioneer of great nobility of spirit.

“In his work Histoire véritable et naturelle, a copy of which he sent to Colbert in the assurance that the king would read it, he mentions ‘the sweet water that drips from the maple trees, pleasant to drink mixed with sugar.’”

He also mentions the tapping of the maples by the Indians. This “sweet water” was used for medicinal purposes, and also enhanced the flavour of the pancakes which Jacques Cartier, during his first visit in 1534, found to be delicious – or in any case better than the unsalted, unsweetened dishes of a basic cuisine symbolized by the national dish of corn mush, called sagamite.

Every discovery is the result of accident, trial and error, and multiple experiments. The metamorphosis of water into maple syrup through the cooking process was undoubtedly an enormous surprise for the first experimenter who delighted at the flavour of the unctuous golden liquid.