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News Release

September 17, 2006

U of G, Cuisine Canada Name Top Culinary Authors

The University of Guelph and Cuisine Canada recognized the range and expertise of Canadian cookbook authors, publishers and food culture by hosting and sponsoring the ninth annual Canadian Culinary Book Contest in Winnipeg Saturday.

"We see in culinary writing an expression of our country and its people," said Michael Ridley, U of G’s chief information officer and chief librarian. "Food and drink are deeply felt in a culture. Through our food you can understand much of where we have been, where we are and where we are going."

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 culinary collection has become an international resource consulted widely by scholars in different fields," said Ridley. "It is also a treasure as yet undiscovered by many."

Janice Wong won top honours in the Canadian food culture English-language category for Chow: From China to Canada: Memories of Food and Family. A collection of more than 50 simple family fare dishes, Chow contains early photographs, immigration documents, 1940s restaurant menus and handwritten recipes that trace the history of some of Canada's first ethnic restaurants.

First prize in the French-language Canadian food culture contest went to Anton Fercher for Chapeau! Canada: les grands chefs.

Winners of the top English-language cookbook award were Michael and Anna Olson for Anna and Michael Olson Cook At Home: Recipes for Every Day and Every Occasion; the French-language award went to Jocelyna Dubuc, Pierre Cornélis and Stéphane Triballi for Le Spa Eastman à votre table.

Pam Freir’s Laughing With My Mouth Full: Tales From a Gulf Islands Kitchen and François Chartier’s À table avec François Chartier 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 Habeeb Salloum for Arab Cooking on a Saskatchewan Homestead: Recipes and Recollections. In the French-language cookbook category, the silver went to Robert Beauchemin for Huile d’olive.

Nazneen Sheikh’s Tea and Pomegranates: A Memoir of Food, Family and Kashmir and Richard Béliveau and Denis Gringras’ Les aliments contre le cancer: La prévention et le traitement du cancer par l’alimentation won second prize in the English and French special-interest food and beverage book category. Michèle Serre won second in the French-language Canadian food culture category for his book, Les produits du marché au Québec.

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 Beef Information Centre, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, Hain Celestial Canada, Harbinger Communications, Inniskillin, Liaison College and the Chicken Farmers of Canada.