Chef J-C Poirier shares Québécois culture with Cabane à Sucre menu and traditional sugar pie
St. Lawrence restaurant brings a taste of “sugar shacks” to Vancouver with its buttery tarte au sucre
St. Lawrence chef J-C Poirier created his recipe for tarte au sucre based on taste memories of his grandmother’s version.
HAVING GROWN UP in Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Vancouver chef J-C Poirier remembers being at his grandfather’s cabane à sucre (“sugar shack”) deep within the érabliere, a forest of old-growth sugar-maple trees. The cabins are where precious, thick sap is made into syrup in springtime, a tradition that dates back centuries. At the heart of the annual harvest are hearty family meals finished with tarte au sucre, or sugar pie. Cabanes à sucre are a pillar of Québécois culture, and sugar pies remain a staple on every family table.
“Some of my earliest memories were being at my grandfather’s every year when it’s maple syrup season with my extended family,” Poirier tells Stir. “Not only we were eating everything maple but my grandmother and aunts were always bringing more food for lunch. Tarte au sucre was always there on the table. Eating it outside, in the woods surrounded by maple trees, made those moments unforgettable and special.
“The tarte is an icon for me,” he says. “It’s been around in my life since the beginning. It’s comfort and happiness. It evokes memories of being with my family. It’s nostalgia.”
Poirier wanted to share a slice of that love with his wife and kids, so he developed a recipe based on his taste memories of grandmaman’s tarte au sucre. Now, he’s baking sugar pies at St. Lawrence, his acclaimed Vancouver restaurant that celebrates the food of la Belle Province, with ready-to-eat and ready-to-bake versions available for pickup.
The pies also appear on the menu for the restaurant’s Table d’Hôte Cabane à Sucre dinner series running January 15 to February 28. The event sold out during its inaugural 2020 run; the forthcoming edition will be available for dine-in or take-out. The multicourse menu comes with oreille de crisse (fried pork rinds with maple and Montreal spices); cheese croquettes; maple-sausage roll in puff pastry; and pheasant terrine with apricot, foie gras, and grilled bread. Among the choices for plats principaux are tourtière de cerf (venison pie), confit de canard (duck confit with cabbage stuffed with garlic sausage and baked beans), vol-au-vent de fruits de mer (vol-au-vent with maple-marinated salmon, mussels and Diplomat sauce.
There’s also a selection of desserts, such as Quebec cheese with brioche and jam, maple mille-feuille, and that tarte au sucre.
St. Lawrence’s tartes au sucre come ready to eat or ready to bake.
“In case you didn’t know, the traditional French-Canadian diet is rich in calories, fat, and sugar, and the tarte au sucre is a perfect example,” Poirier says. “Québécois have a very sweet tooth and the weather is favorable for that kind of treat. Its high fat content from butter and heavy cream was needed to help Quebecers survive the harsh elements, while its high sugar content was also a necessary counterbalance for the brutal conditions of life—a true taste of sweet joie de vivre.”
Going way back, the pie was made with pure maple sugar, at a time when brown sugar was rare. These days, brown sugar is the main ingredient. Poirier’s version differs slightly from his grandmother’s in other ways.
“Back in the good old days, she was using quality lard instead of butter,” he says. “Mine is 100 percent butter. Good lard is hard to find, and Tenderflake is not it.”
Poirier likes to serve the pie with a light crème Chantilly to balance the dessert’s intense sweetness. The tarte au sucre, $35, can be ordered on the St. Lawrence website, where bookings can be made for the Table d’Hôte Cabane à Sucre dinner ($69 dine-in or $49 take-home per person).
“I hope we are able to transport people to a different place via the tarte au sucre,” Poirier says. “We sure need it these days.
“As a chef, one of my core values is to be authentic to myself,” he says. “That means sharing my knowledge, my culture, my experiences and presenting a little piece of who I am to my guests. Not sharing my tarte au sucre with the people of Vancouver would just mean that I am not being true to myself—can’t let that happen.”
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