The Food Show

November 1, 2009 at 10:11 am Leave a comment

At noon today, check out The Food Show on 570 AM. Andrew Coppolino will be interviewing me along with Fiona Lucas and Micheline Mongrain about this year’s Canadian Culinary Book Awards. Fiona is the overall incoming chair of the awards, replacing Jo Marie Powers who started the awards in 1998. Micheline is the chair of the French Culinary Book awards. My most recent book, A Taste of Canada, has been short-listed in the culture category of the awards. In 2004, I won both a bronze for culture and the gold for cookbooks with Hungry for Comfort. In 2005, I was a judge, so I know the serious work that goes into such a job.

The other award I will discuss with Andrew today is The Edna. Edna Staebler (1906-2006) was a Canadian Twentieth Century Culinary Pioneer. She was one of the first Canadian authors to extol the virtues of local (regional) food. In her magazine articles and hugely successful cookbooks (starting with Food that Really Schmecks) Edna led readers to a better understanding of the lifestyle of Old Order Mennonites with their respect for the land and its seasonal cycles, and in doing so, lifted the Waterloo Region into a culinary destination in the country. In 1996, Cuisine Canada (a national alliance of culinary professionals) inaugurated a lifetime achievement award given that year to Edna and named in perpetuity The Edna. Since then, the award has been given every two years (at first) and now every year to an individual who has contributed to the promotion of regional cuisine and who exemplifies the region through his or her work. Both the culinary book awards and The Edna will be presented on Friday, November 6th at the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto.