Maple sugar to treat sore throats: the story of candy, chocolate and treats in Quebec

Who says December says little treats! Advent calendars, chocolate, candy canes and colorful candies add to the magic of this month leading up to the Christmas and New Year celebrations. But for us to one day be able to enjoy these treats, we had to sugar arrives in kitchens.

Europeans certainly sweetened their dishes before the arrival of white sugar in their kitchens. They mainly used honey and when they were among the privileged people who could afford it during the Middle Ages, they could have access to cane sugar, or refined white sugar. Originally, the latter arrived from India via the exchange networks of the Arab world. It was with the arrival of European settlers in the Americas and more particularly in the Antilles from the 16th^e century that sugar cane is established in various places. The settlers then exploited land suitable for its cultivation and, through it, the inhabitants of these regions.

The big trade in what we would come to call “white gold” then began. Large sugarcane plantations developed and the use of African slaves for its cultivation, harvesting and processing gradually reduced costs. Initially, however, it was still the wealthy classes who could afford refined sugar. Queen Elizabeth I of England was also crazy about it, to the point where she had spoiled teeth, which she hid, among other things, with fans in front of her mouth.

The availability of sugar and its democratization over time allow the creation of various sweets that will endure. Chocolate, drunk in the form of hot chocolate before being consumed in the form of truffles, was discovered by the Aztecs, who drank it black by adding, among other things, chili pepper. If the drink put off the Spaniards who tasted it, the craze for the latter was born when nuns living in Mexico mixed it with cream and… sugar! It was therefore in the form of hot chocolate that the wealthy classes of New France discovered chocolate, imported from France where it was very popular for breakfast at the Palace of Versailles.

It was also French Benedictine nuns who developed barley sugar, which is closely associated with Christmas celebrations. It’s in the 17th^e century that they decided to color cane sugar with a mixture of barley groats, thus giving birth to this colorful candy which appeals to young and old alike. Initially, it was mainly used to soothe sore throats, just like maple sugar produced in New France at the same time.

At the very beginning of the 19th century^e century, with industrialization, large sugar refineries emerged, as did the first confectioneries specializing in the manufacture of various treats for commercial sale. Local refineries are indeed needed for the candy industry to develop, with sugar being the raw material and having to be relatively affordable to produce treats at an acceptable price. It was in the 1850s that the first cane sugar refinery opened its doors in Montreal, then, in 1881, a refinery specializing in the extraction of beet sugar opened its doors in Farnham.

Confectioners often offer their products on a very local scale, but at the end of the 19th^e century and at the turn of the 20th^e century, grocers and chocolatiers began to offer a greater variety of treats, particularly chocolate. This is the case of the Ganong and Moir’s chocolate factories in New Brunswick and… of Laura Secord. Although the first store opened in Toronto, the chocolates from this confectionery sold quickly in several Canadian provinces such as Quebec, where the number of stores was constantly increasing in the 1940s and 1950s. The confectionery of the Trappist fathers also began its production of chocolate sweets at the end of the 1930s and after the Second World War, the diversity of sweets continued to increase for Quebecers looking for small sweets… to offer or to offer yourself!

Happy Holidays!