Álska Farm

Älska Farm, the name of which is a nod to the Swedish heritage of the owners, and which means "love, adore and cherish", is in Low, Quebec, about 40 minutes north of Ottawa. Owned by Genevieve Marquis, Gabriel Jort-Pelletier and their two children, Téo, 4, and Mika, 2, the family produces maple syrup and pork. Their home is a picturesque log cabin with a steeply pitched shingled roof, set atop a small hill on 125 acres, with views down the winding country road and across the rolling terrain of the Gatineau Hills. The couple has been producing maple syrup since 2010 and this is the product they sell to many businesses in Ottawa, including The Red Apron — one of their first customers, along with Herb & Spice on Wellington — Bridgehead, Art-is-In Bakery and Pure Kitchen, among others. With more than 300 kilometres of piping from trees on 250 acres in the Eastern Townships, where the farm was awarded quota by the Federation of Quebec Maple Syrup Producers, Älska produces between 20,000 and 25,000 litres of maple syrup annually. Their primary market is Ottawa because Marquis has roots here and they live close to the city, but they’ll ship all around the world and recently sent off 300 tiny party favour bottles to a tattoo and piercing conference in Las Vegas for a client from B.C. Wedding favours are also a big market for Älska and the couple will happily provide customized labels. Marquis and Jort-Pelletier were married in 2008 and began homesteading immediately. They started maple syrup production in 2010 as soon as they were awarded quota, which limits the amount they can produce and equally sets a minimum price for maple syrup sold in the province. “We recognized that there was an untapped market in Ottawa,” Marquis says, “and we’re one of few producers capable of large -scale supply.” They were also aided by their youth. Now aged 33 (Marquis) and 38 (Jort-Pelletier) they are spring chickens in a business where the average age of producers is 62. With their marketing savvy, energy and ability to deliver to customers directly, thereby putting a face to local, they quickly gained a foothold with some big customers in the city. During sap season, Jort-Pelletier is backwards and forwards between the sugar shack and Ottawa, overseeing operations for a business that was recently awarded “organic” status. “We boil for five hours daily, producing about 250 litres of syrup per hour,” he explains, “using a super-efficient, wood-fired evaporator.” The sap goes through a process of reverse osmosis, producing concentrated sugars that they boil for maple syrup and very pure, unstable water, which is devoid of all minerals. This is the secret to the organic status of Älska maple syrup. Regular water always has some form of minerals and salts in it, but the instability of this by-product lends itself to a secondary use. "We heat this unstable water, so that it’s really hot and then we use this to clean the machinery and it is drawn to minerals and salts left behind. It’s simple, but it’s pure and we take a lot of pride in our superclean facility,” Jort-Pelletier says. In the facilities of a regular producer, one not awarded organic status, there are plenty of chemicals used to clean the machinery, such as huge amounts of chlorine. “It’s not a coincidence that since the introduction of technology, the quality and taste of maple syrup has begun to decline,” Jort-Pelletier says. And taste for Jort-Pelletier, is everything. He waxes lyrically about “terroir” in syrup and can clearly identify where the maple trees grow by tasting syrup. Älska’s trees grow in very thin soil, basically on a rock at a high elevation. “Our syrup has a very distinctive pure taste,” he says, “and because there’s very little organic matter, it’s a clean taste, slightly minerally.” Älska also produces free-range pork. This season, the couple expects to raise between 100 and 150 pigs, all of whom live on their 125-acre farm. These pigs lead a happy life as they rootle around in the woods and fields of this pristine property. Their preferred breed is Tamworth, because they are rustic and hardy, but they tend to grow slowly. So, they’ve got a muddle of purebreds and crosses that include Berkshires and a strange breed called Wattle. The latter is black and has a tassel hanging from each side of its face. This passel of hogs is certainly a mixed bunch, ranging from piggy pink, to spotted, black and pretty much everything in between. Due to slaughter and inter-provincial export rules, the couple sells the majority of their pork direct to consumer or to restaurants in Quebec such as Le Hibou and La Maison du Village in Wakefield, as well as Le Rustik in Hull. “Christopher, the chef there, really does care about where his product comes from and how it is raised,” Marquis says. ‘We originally started with the pigs to feed our family,” Marquis says, “then word got out. What we are really trying to do is do it properly and raise them the right way. And while maple syrup will always be a luxury product, we also try to make our food accessible. It’s a goal of ours.” Älska Farm 70 Chemin Lac-Bernard, N., Low, Que. alskafarm.com | 819.593.4206 | @alska_farm