Published by Communications and Public Affairs 519 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338

News Release

November 04, 2005

U of G and Cuisine Canada Name Top Culinary Authors

A book written by three of Canada’s most recognized authors, and dedicated to the foods served in the home of former Canadian Governor General Adrienne Clarkson and her husband John Ralston Saul, is among the winners of the eighth annual Canadian Culinary Book Contest, sponsored by the University of Guelph and Cuisine Canada. The awards, which recognize the range and expertise of Canadian cookbook authors, publishers and food culture, were announced Nov. 3 in Montréal at Auberge le Saint-Gabriel.

“Culinary writers are explorers,” said Michael Ridley, U of G’s chief information officer and chief librarian. “Their literature is the genre that most touches the daily lives of Canadians. They chart our senses and uncover a new geography made up of ingredients, combinations, contrasts and harmonies.”

The winning cookbooks will enter U of G’s culinary archives — the most complete collection of Canadian cookbooks in the world. It contains 5,000 volumes ranging from the 17th to the 20th centuries and also contains culinary books from other countries, including Britain, the United States, France and Holland.

“Our collection is a smorgasbord of insight, inspiration and social history,” said Ridley. “Through food, we know ourselves.”

Acclaimed authors Margaret MacMillan, Marjorie Harris and Anne L. Desjardins collaborated with Clarkson and Ralston Saul on Canada’s House: Rideau Hall and the Invention of the Canadian Home. The book, which reveals contemporary recipes reflecting the diversity and spirit of the nation, won top honours in the Canadian food culture English-language category.

First prize in the French-language Canadian food culture contest went to Richard Bizier and Roch Nadeau for the second edition of Répertoire des fromages du Québec.

The top English-language cookbook award went to Lucy Waverman and James Chatto for A Matter of Taste: Inspired Seasonal Menus With Wines and Spirits to Match; while the French-language award went to Josée Di Stasio for À la di Stasio.

Gina Mallet’s Last Chance to Eat: The Fate of Taste in a Fast-Food World and François Chartier’s La sélection Chartier 2005 took gold for the English and French awards in the special interest food and beverage book category.

Second prize in the English-language cookbook category went to Rose Reisman for Weekday Wonders: Healthy Light Meals for Every Day. In the French-language cookbook category, the silver went to Diane Séguin’s La cuisine comme je l’aime.

Geoff Heinricks’s A Fool and Forty Acres: Conjuring a Vineyard Three Thousand Miles From Burgundy and Jacques Orhan’s Harmonisez vins et mets: le nouveau guide des accords parfaits won second prize in the English and French special interest food and beverage book category, while Hélène-Andrée Bizier won second in the French-language Canadian food culture category for their book, Le menu quotidien en Nouvelle-France.

U of G has contributed to Canadian cuisine through its programs in agriculture, food science, and hotel and tourism management for more than 140 years. Cuisine Canada, which links people in the food industry from farmers and nutritionists to chefs and restaurateurs, was founded in 1995 as the first alliance of Canadian culinary professionals.

The awards are supported by the Chicken Farmers of Canada, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Foodservice and Hospitality Magazine, Harbinger, Inniskillin, Liaison College and the Dairy Farmers of Canada.