The Good

Founding member, Anita Stewart, has been awarded the Order of Canada “for her contributions as a journalist, author and culinary activist and for her promotion of the food industry in Canada.” Over the years, two of Stewart’s cookbooks — The Flavours of Canada and Anita Stewart’s Canada — won Gold at the Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

Rose Murray’s A Taste of Canada has been chosen as Brant County’s “One Book One Brant” title. Every year the County of Brant Public Library selects one book to help promote a love of reading in adults, share local stories and culture, and create a community-wide reading experience. A Taste of Canada received an honourable mention at the 2009 Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

The Badly Needed

After three years, Cuisine Canada Scene is going offline. But don’t despair, this makes room for …

The Tasty

Taste Canada—The Food Writing Awards now has its own website. All news about the 2012 awards will be posted there. Drop by and subscribe via RSS or email. Be the first to hear about calls for entry, shortlisted nominations, and who wins Gold.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the members who contributed to Cuisine Canada Scene, all the readers who followed us, and to Cuisine Canada for bringing together such a diverse and dedicated group of people.

This isn’t good-bye. It’s just a new beginning…

2012 marks the fifteenth year for the Canadian Culinary Book Awards. In keeping with the shifting culinary landscape, the Awards Committee and the University of Guelph are proud to introduce a new name, a new logo, and revised award categories.

Taste Canada―The Food Writing Awards is an evolution of the former Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

The awards will continue to annually recognize excellence and creativity in food and beverage writing and publishing. The new branding will further celebrate Canadian culinary food culture, Canadian authors and publishers, while acknowledging and respecting the authority and history of the original Awards.

Taste Canada ― The Food Writing Awards is still managed by the same core staff, under the leadership of the new National Chair, Karen Gelbart, a Toronto media consultant with a long and distinguished career in broadcasting and journalism. Before taking on the role of Chair of Taste Canada, Karen held a senior executive position with Shaw Media, formerly Canwest Broadcasting, overseeing content for the company’s lifestyle specialty channels. In this role, Karen helped bring the Food Network to Canada in 2000 and then administered its explosive growth until 2010.

She says, “I was delighted to join the Awards Committee in re-imagining the awards for 2012.  We all share a common desire to encourage the development, use, and recognition of fine Canadian food and beverage books by instituting these timely changes. I look forward to a year of increased profile for food writing in Canada, and to further exciting developments.”

Remaining as a partner, the University of Guelph has for more than 140 years contributed to Canadian cuisine with programs in agriculture, food science, hospitality and tourism management, and other related fields. One copy of all nominated books will be donated to the University’s Canadian Culinary Book Collection.

Taste Canada―The Food Writing Awards invites all Canadian publishers to submit nominations to the 2012 Awards, formerly known as the Canadian Culinary Book Awards.  Deadline for submissions is February 1, 2012.

Designed to recognize excellence and creativity in food and beverage-writing and publishing, the awards also promote our Canadian culinary food culture while celebrating Canadian authors and publishers. The awards are presented annually to honour books published during the previous calendar year.  Revised awards categories, criteria, submission procedures, and entry forms are available online.

Karen Gelbart is available for comment and interview. To arrange an interview contact Debby de Groot, MDG & Associates | 416.363.1448 | debby@mdgassociates.com

It’s a new month. Fresh starts. New projects. Exciting news?

We’ll be posting the list of Canadian Culinary Book Award nominees soon. In the meantime, tell us what you’re up to this month — or even what you did last month. We’re flexible.

Cooking demonstrations, workshops, publications, book signings, media appearances, website news, product launches… we’re open to anything food related that involves our members. Just post a comment and after a brief delay for moderation, your news will go live.

Don’t be shy. We love hearing what our members are up to.

Photo © puuikibeach. Published under a Creative Commons License.

It’s all about you! You, you, you.

Since Cuisine Canada’s mandate is to focus on networking, we’re handing the mike to you. Tell us what you’re up to. Events, workshops, publications, book signings, media appearances, website news… we’re open to anything food related that involves our members. Just post a comment and after a brief delay for moderation, your news will go live.

Over to you.

Just because we are all bundled up for winter doesn’t mean our members aren’t out doing all sorts of great things. It’s impressive, the ever-increasing number of winter themed events that focus on food.  After all, what could be more fun than great people and great food to warm our Canadian soul?

Let us know what you are up to, what events you are planning, and what great things you want to share with our members and friends. Post a comment and after a brief delay for moderation, your news will go live.

Not sure what to we’re talking about. Check out December’s action here.

Cuisine Canada is taking a short break over the holidays. We’ll be back in 2011 with more interviews, more trend reports, more events and more exclusively Canadian content.

Wishing you all a very happy and safe holiday season.
The Cuisine Canada Team

What’s your weakness? Dessert or mains?
Mains.

Who or what got you interested in food?
My mother — she hated cooking and I knew I’d better love it if I wanted to eat well.

What inspires you?
Fresh tomatoes, mushrooms, pasta, sauces.

What was your favourite dinner when you were a kid? Do you like it now?
Grandma’s meatloaf – made with two cans of soup and a pound of “ground round”. I still love it.

What’s the first dish you remember making?
Jello with canned pears. My mother threw it out.

Proudest food-related moment?
Graduating from University in Home Economics.

Strangest food you’ve ever eaten?
A meal in Istanbul a couple of years ago. I still don’t know what it was.

Favourite sound in the kitchen?
The dishwasher “doing its thing.”

Favourite cooking smell?
Pickles being made.

Quintessential Canadian dish?
Salmon and fiddleheads, grilled on the barbecue.

Cilantro — can’t get enough or tastes like soap?
Can’t get enough.

What local foods can’t you live without?
Fresh local strawberries and fresh local tomatoes.

What’s your greatest culinary extravagance?
Cream and butter (in small amounts) rather than an edible oil topping and margarine.

Most over-rated kitchen gadget?
Garborator.

What’s the most treasured possession in your kitchen? Why?
A rocking chair made by my grandfather and brought from Newfoundland to Toronto in 1920. It sat in my grandparent’s kitchen, then my mothers, now mine, and it’s still used every day.

Fill in the blank. If I never cooked / ate / heard about  __________ again, I’d be happy.
Liver.

If you could cook for anyone, alive or dead, who would it be and why?
Pierre Trudeau, because I think he probably had an educated palate and would appreciate small amounts of great food.

What would you prepare for him/her?
Either peppercorn steak with garlic potatoes and green beans or a lobster dish with a butter sauce.

What  was the last thing you ate?
Oatmeal porridge and homemade brown bread.

If you had to work outside the culinary field, what would you do?
Write.