Essential Food Books
These are some favourites and are divided, roughly,
into books with recipes and those that are primarily
text. All are essential to the creation of a truly
rounded library on all things culinary. There will
be additions from time to time, particularly before the Christmas shopping season.
Some are a really good read, gastro-candy
of the first order. Others are invaluable resources. Finally there are my personal treasures, books which I will leave in my will. They are the ones that I never ever lend...but I do buy copies for my best friends.
Have a great read!
Those with important cultural significance to
Canada are marked
These are works of literature…some of my absolute favourites … many have been on my shelves for years. New reviews will be added on a regular basis.
The Physiology of Taste, Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, trans. Anne Dayton, London: Penguin, 1970. Maturing in 19th century France Brillat-Savarin joined the ranks of serious writers and social commentators that helped to create the foundation of French ‘cuisine’ as we now know it.
The Art of Eating M.F.K Fisher, New York: Vintage, 1976. This is a must-read. Mary Frances had the courage not only to write sensuously about food but to also tell tales on herself. For me this is would be a desert-island book.
The Cook's Book by Jill Norman - this is a real picture book with step by step instructions from some of the world's most influential chefs including Ferran Adria, Charlie Trotter and David Thompson, the leading expert on Thai cookery. (Dorling Kindersley, 2005)
On Food and Cooking (Revised Edition) Harold McGee has written the best How and Why food book anywhere. McGee, who is all over the world consulting and working with restaurateurs like Adria (see above) and Heston Blumenthal of The Fat Duck in London, England actually UNDERSTANDS molecular gastronomy. (Scribner 2004)
ICEWINE – Extreme Winemaking by
Donald Ziraldo and Karl Kaiser (Key Porter 2007) Karl Kaiser has finally written his ideas on Ice wine production. Following the introductory text on from Cooperage to Cold Hardiness, Kaiser really gets into it. This is Ice Wine making 101 and beyond. And it has history…with Kaiser’s harvests from 1983 – 2006. As important as this book is today, it will take on still more importance in the coming years as Niagara’s wine making community grows and achieves more recognition. And one must remember that it was Karl Kaiser’s 1989 Vidal ice wine that won Canada’s FIRST international medal at Vinexpo in 1991. He’s a viticultural genius and we are blessed to have him here in Canada
Culinary Landmarks: A Bibliography of Canadian Cookbooks 1825 – 1949 by Elizabeth Driver (University of Toronto Press, 2008)
Consider the Oyster: A Shucker's Field Guide, Patrick McMurray, champion oyste shucker and Toronto restaurateur (Starfish is a great oyster bar), has written an invaluable guide to these delicous shellfish.(McClelland & Stewart, 2007)
Our
Sustainable Table, ed. Robert Clark. Berkeley:
North Point Press, 1990.
The writings of Berry and Moore-Lappé are
only two of the gems within this book. Others
are from Alice Waters (Chez Panisse) and Edward
Behr (newsletter called The Art of Eating), both
great American food professionals.
The
Oxford Companion to FOOD, Alan Davidson, Oxford
University Press, 1999.
This massive volume by the late Alan Davidson
is a book that will never leave my library. As
a reference book for world food, there is none
better.
A
Taste of History: Québec’s Gastronomy, Marc Lafrance & Yvon Desloges, Les Editions
de la Chenelière, Quebec 1989
A bi-lingual look at the culinary history
of old Québec. For students of the culinary
tradition, it is a must. Well-researched and
easy to read.
The Pudding That Took A Thousand Cooks (In North America the title is A History of Cooks and Cooking) , Michael Symons, Victoria (Australia) Viking, 1998.
Looking
for Flavour, Barbara Santich, South Australia:
Wakefield Press, 1996.
Michael Symons and Barbara Santich are the co-founders
of the Symposium on Australian Gastronomy and two
of the world’s most respected culinary academics.
They are both very readable and are noted for being
thorough researchers.
A
Shared Table: Ideas for Australian Cuisine, Michael
Symons
Canberra: Australian Government Publishing
Service, 1993
Eating
My Words, Eve Johnson, Whitecap: Vancouver 2003.
Eve’s work really must be read. It’s
gentle, intelligent and infinitely good-natured.
NOTE: For hard to find and out of print books, try www.abebooks.com. This site links with all sorts of used book stores around the world. Actually, it’s a bit dangerous because one can get lost in it for hours.
Essential Cookbooks
Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert (Herald Press, Waterloo, Ontario 2005). This is a terrific book for those who wish to cook locally and live in a more northerly climate where winter is our reality. It has the same feel as the More With Less Cookbook that I love (see below). But it’s divided into seasonal dishes…which is really important. Most other cookbooks tend to assume you can get corn year round. In this one, it’s a summer crop. Winter is very well handled with recipes that speak to the season.
The More with Less Cookbook (Mennonite Central Committee, Doris Janzen Longacre, Herald Press, 1976 / 2000. This was /is ethical cooking based on the international experiences of aid workers around the globe - from Mexico to Africa - a sign of the times.lots of granola..and if that didn't suit, you could make grape nuts. I learned to understand skim milk powder.
Cooking with Foods that Fight Cancer by Richard Belliveau and Denis Gingras (McClelland & Stewart 2007) and its 2005 predecessor Foods that Fight Cancer (McClelland & Stewart). The summary of foods of that earlier book is excellent …tomatoes, berries, all the brassicas…kale and so forth. Then you can simply cook them as you’d like.
A Year at Les Fougères We wonder about the meaning of ‘terroir’ Get this book after you’ve read the Santich volume and it becomes crystalline. The restaurant Les Fougères (translation: fiddleheads) is located just outside of Chelsea, Quebec in the rolling oftimes snowy Gatineaus. I don’t know another eating establishment in Canada that has a Mission Statement emblazoned on their website www.fougeres.com. Owners Charles Part and Jennifer Warren-Part have created a holistic place that the recipes in the book reflect that dedication and a seasonal celebration of the most local foods from Rabbit (Hare) ragout with Seville Orange Marmalade and Rosemary Gnocchi to Maple-sugar-cured Gravlax.
Where People Feast: An Indigenous People’s Cookbook by Dolly and Annie Watts (Arsenal Pulp Press 2007). For years they ran the Liliget Feast House in Vancouver and cooked their First Nations foods. The recipes generously share their ingredients ….Seaweed Salmon Roe Soup like one I ate in Bella Bella years ago and the dish that made Dolly famous, Just Like Grandma’s Bannock.
Menus from an Orchard Table: Celebrating the Food and Wine of the Okanagan. Heidi Noble settled in the Okanagan and opened a beautiful B&B she named Joie. There she taught and wrote while caring for guests. Menus, recipes and gorgeous images. (Whitecap 2007)
The Best of Gourmet: Sixty Five Years ~ Sixty Five Favorite Recipes. As a teenager in a very rural town, Gourmet magazine opened up the world for me. This book is a well-tested compendium of recipes over the years. It's a culinary history of food in North America. (Conde Nast/Random House 2007)
The Complete Book of Small Batch Preserving, Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard, (Firefly, 2007) If we are to be true to the Eat Local dictum, we’re going to have to start re-learning the art of preserving. With books like this one, super-cooks Ellie Topp and Margaret Howard have tackled the subject for their second “revised and expanded” edition. Topp and Howard have been around the Canadian food scene for many years, teaching, demonstrating and writing about how to prolong the harvest by using the freshest ingredients at the peak of ripeness – all year long! They are experts and the 300 recipes that they’ve pulled together for this book demonstrate it, from the most traditional Icicle Pickles and Mustard Pickle to ethnic favourites like Sri Lankan Brinjal Pickle Relish and Thai Chili Sauce to seasonal treats such as Brandied Apricot Preserve and Festive Cranstrawberry Jam. This is a book that should be wide open on every kitchen counter.
A Century of Canadian Home Cooking, Carol Ferguson and Marg Fraser, Prentice-Hall, 1992
This book is the finest retrospective on the evolution of Canadian food ever written. Period.
Arab Cooking on a Saskatchewan Homestead: recipes and recollections. Habeeb Salloum tells an unusual story of Canadian settlement all woven around food and gardening and, of course, the kitchen table. (Canadian Plains Research Centre, Regina, Saskatchewan 2005)
Food That Really Schmecks, Edna Staebler, McGraw Hill/ Ryerson, 1968 When I received this book as a Christmas present from my mom who'd heard Edna speak at her University Women's Club in Mount Forest, Ontario, I thought I'd come upon a kindred spirit. In fact, I had. This is one of the finest examples of regional cookery writing that has ever been done in Canada. Edna was a story teller who love to eat and cook and shared both with her friends.
Out
of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens. Marie Nightingale,
Nimbus, Halifax . First published in 1970, this ultimately
regional cookbook took readers into the kitchens
of cooks from across the province. It is a true
Canadian classic!
Kate Aitken’s Canadian Cookbook, Kate Aitken,
Introduction by Elizabeth Driver, Whitecap Books,
2004.
This classic book by the beloved writer/broadcaster
is one of our national classics. Thank God Whitecap
was wise enough to reprint it for this generation
of cooks.
Nellie
Lyle Pattinson’s Canadian Cook Book Ed. Helen Wattie and Elinor Donaldson, McGraw-Hill
/ Ryerson, 1969 (first printed in 1919)
Few have heard of Nellie Lyle Pattinson or her
Canadian Cook Book – this is my second copy…the
first just fell apart. I made dozens of gingerbread
houses with the recipe in this old book…figured
out the dimensions – and sold them to buy presents
for my kids.
It’s been updated since 1919….how’s
that for staying power?
Home
Baking, The Artful Mix of Flour and Tradition around
the World, Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Duguid, Random
House, 2003. Another magnificent glossy compendium
of baking from their repertoire of travels. These
are internationally acclaimed writers. They don't get any better..and they are Canadian!
The
Complete Canadian Living Cookbook, 350 inspired
recipes from Elizabeth Baird and the kitchen Canadians
trust most, Random House, 2001.
"350 inspired recipes from Elizabeth Baird and the kitchen Canadians trust most," How's that for a great sales pitch on a cover.?? This book really DOES reflect our country.from Lavash bread and oatcakes to cedar planked salmon.
Nellie Lyle Pattinson's Canadian Cook Book Ed. Helen Wattie and Elinor Donaldson, McGraw-Hill / Ryerson, 1969 (first printed in 1919) Few have heard of Nellie Lyle Pattinson or her Canadian Cook Book - this is my second copy.the first just fell apart. I made dozens of gingerbread houses with the recipe in this old book.figured out the dimensions - and sold them to buy presents for my kids. It's been updated since 1919..how's that for staying power.
A
Taste of Quebec, Julian Armstong, McMillan Publishing,
1990 To understand the foods of Quebec, one must
look to the very strong traditions of the regions.
Aside from the excellent recipes, this books significance
is largely due to the fact that Armstrong took
a risk and wrote it in English. It has recently
been re-printed.
La
cuisine traditionelle en Acadie, Marielle Cormier
Boudreau et Melvin Gallant, éditions d'acadie,
1975 Recently released in English, this book is
essential for anyone who wishes to understand Acadian
food.
Out
To Brunch - Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs, The
Cookworks, 2002. Donna Dooher and Claire Stubbs
wrote The Out To Brunch Cookbook which won Gold
in the Cuisine Canada book award. In a word - YUM-these
recipes from Mildred Pierce Restaurant is a testament
to the fact that self-publishing CAN work..and
it's infinitely better than getting them written
on a paper napkin.
Margo
Oliver's Most Treasured Recipes, Margo Oliver,
1977 Margo broke new ground with her columns in Weekend
Magazine. In our rush for "New" we often forget some
of these superb authors like Oliver and Benoit and
Aitken.
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