Taste Canada Awards has announced the winners of the country’s only national, bilingual food writing awards
As you all know I’m obsessed with cookbooks and am always keen to see who receives the Taste Canada Awards. As most of my readers are English-speaking, I’ve included the English titles only. Congratulations to everyone who’s brave enough have published a cookbook, to those nominated here and all the winners.
This year, 86 cookbooks entered the competition, representing authors from 7 provinces. A shortlist announced in June narrowed the competition to a maximum of 5 entries per category.
The 20 gold and silver award winners were revealed at the Taste Canada Awards Virtual Ceremony on October 25, streamed on Facebook Live, from the Fairmont Royal York Hotel in Toronto, co-hosted by Irene Matys and Martin Juneau.
The annual ceremony brings together writers, publishers, chefs, restaurateurs, farmers, industry, media and cookbook fans to promote a vibrant national conversation about food and the art and culture of culinary writing. The theme this year was Farm to Kitchen. Due to Covid, all of the activities leading up to the ceremony were held online, including a new series of “Behind the Apron” Zoom chats with authors and farmers, giving the public access to engage in a virtual setting, leading up to the virtual awards ceremony.
CANADA’S BEST COOKBOOKS 2020
Culinary Narratives
Gold: Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui, Douglas & McIntyre, Madeira Park
Silver: Lost Feast: Culinary Extinction and the Future of Food by Lenore Newman, ECW Press, Toronto
General Cookbooks, Presented by Egg Farmers of Ontario
Gold: Let Me Feed You by Rosie Daykin, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
Silver: Duchess at Home by Giselle Courteau, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
Regional/Cultural Cookbooks
Gold: Coconut Lagoon: Recipes from a South Indian Kitchen by Joe Thottungal and Anne DesBrisay, Figure 1 Publishing, Vancouver
Silver: Burdock & Co by Andrea Carlson, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
Single-Subject Cookbooks
Gold: Oven to Table: Over 100 One-Pot and One-Pan Recipes for Your Sheet Pan, Skillet, Dutch Oven, and More by Jan Scott, Penguin Canada, Toronto
Silver: Modern Lunch by Allison Day, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
Health and Special Diet Cookbooks
Gold: Eat More Plants: Over 100 Anti-Inflammatory, Plant-Based Recipes for Vibrant Living by Desiree Nielsen, Penguin Canada, Toronto
Silver: Sprout Right Family Food: Good Nutrition and Over 130 Simple Recipes for Baby, Toddler, and the Whole Family by Lianne Phillipson, Penguin Canada, Toronto
HALL OF FAME
This year’s Taste Canada Awards Hall of Fame inductees, presented by the Culinary Historians of Canada, have wildly different personalities, however both are well-known for their humorous approach to cooking — especially their puns and one-liners.
The first inductee for 2020 was the late Norene Gilletz. Norene, known as “Canada’s queen of kosher cuisine,” died recently (age 79) still writing and blogging about Canadian food. Her first cookbook, Second Helpings, Please!, (1968), reprinted seventeen times, is now subtitled The Iconic Jewish Cookbook. Her final cookbook, The Brain Boosting Diet, appeared last December. She wrote ten others, plus many food columns and blog posts for the Canadian Jewish News. Her Facebook group boasted over 10,000 members, who happily called themselves “Noreners.”
Gilletz was famous for her humour, culinary knowledge, and generous mentorship of food writers, teachers, and fundraisers. Her recipes were delicious and reliable; thousands still make her Sweet and Sour Meatballs and Carrot Cake. Gilletz’s books united communities as varied as Jews, food processor owners and thyroid cancer sufferers.
The second inductee for 2020 was Stephen Yan. Stephen was an ambassador of Chinese cooking. He was the first Chinese-Canadian chef to host a cooking show, CBC’s wildly popular “Wok with Yan” (1978 to 1995). From Hong Kong, Yan emigrated to Vancouver in 1967 at age nineteen, where he eventually opened restaurants and self-published many cookbooks. His syndicated show and cookbooks encouraged home cooks to experiment with Asian ingredients, techniques and equipment, especially the cleaver and the wok, his specialty.
People young and old fondly remember the show and books. His delicious stir-fry recipes were simple, colourful and quick. Stephen Yan’s world-wide fans loved the puns emblazoned on his aprons: “Don’t wok the boat” and “Wokkey Night in Canada” are but two.
