Foodies, take note!
Every year, the Taste Canada Awards are a literary and culinary highlight, celebrating the best in Canadian food writing. We also love them as a good excuse to share some of our favourite posts when books we've celebrated already end up on the shortlists!
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Seafood and Chorizo Paella, from Gather: A Dirty Apron Cookbook, by David Robertson, nominated for Culinary Narratives
About the book: Bestselling chef David Robertson, of The Dirty Apron Cooking School, is back with a stunningly designed book of new recipes for the home cook and the whole family.
The Dirty Apron Cooking School has taught thousands of Canadians to cook. In this anticipated follow-up to his bestselling Dirty Apron Cookbook, David Robertson's latest book celebrates the simple pleasures of cooking food for friends and family.
Gather features an enticing collection of 80 delicious recipes designed to be shared, whether on platters or heaped high in big bowls, and served with care, generosity and a lot of love. From crème brûlée French toast, to a salmon, spinach and fennel Wellington, to beef tenderloin with salsa verde and honey-roasted vegetables, these crowd-pleasing recipes are super approachable and bursting with flavour. David includes more options for plant-based and gluten-free diets and introduces some new techniques to the mix. After all, good cooking is all about coaxing flavours out of your ingredients, and if you get the techniques down, you'll have success in the kitchen and see big smiles around the table.
No matter the skill level, home cooks can learn how to cook with more confidence so they spend less time in the kitchen and more around the dining table with friends and family. Gather gets to the heart of cooking and is an indispensable addition to any food lover's library.
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Backyard Fresh Fig and Thyme Galette with Salted Caramel Drizzle, from Cedar and Salt: Vancouver Island Recipes from Forest, Farm, Field, and Sea, by DL Acken & Emily Lycopolus, nominated for Regional/Cultural Cookbooks
About the book: Homegrown, modern recipes that feature the most treasured local ingredients from Vancouver Island’s forests, fields, farms and sea.
Off the shore of Canada’s west coast lies a food lover’s island paradise. Vancouver Island’s temperate climate nurtures a bounty of wild foods, heritage grains, organic produce, sustainable meats and artisan-crafted edible delights. This thoughtfully curated, beautifully photographed cookbook brings Vancouver Island’s abundant food scene into the kitchens of home cooks everywhere.
While celebrating such treasures such as fresh blackberries, foraged chanterelles and fiddleheads, freshly harvested spot prawns or oysters, line-caught spring salmon, grass-fed beef, and cultivated foods like heritage red fife wheat, the book's recipes highlight the most sought-after ingredients on the island and honour the producers and artisans dedicated to sustainable and ethical producing and harvesting.
Try recipes like Craft Beer–Braised Island Beef Brisket, Nettle and Chèvre Ravioli, and Beetroot and Black Walnut Cake featuring Denman Island Chocolate. Divided into four sections—forest, field, farm, and sea—Cedar and Salt puts the taste of Vancouver Island on a pedestal, and then brings it to your plate.
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Butterscotch Square Coffee Cake, from The Long Table Cookbook, by Amy Symington, nominated for Health and Special Diet Cookbooks
About the book: A nutritious diet is key to both the prevention and management of chronic illness, but to make us feel wonderful, it must also taste wonderful—and a meal shared with family and friends is even better. Grounded in this perspective, The Long Table Cookbook makes the transition to a health-optimizing plant-based diet simple and satisfying, featuring over seventy-five recipes along with the latest evidence-based nutritional advice, meal planning suggestions and tips for hosting community gatherings.
Chef Amy Symington and The Long Table Cookbook team have put a gourmet spin on healthy ingredients with recipes that are made to share. Readers won’t be able to resist flavourful dishes like Watermelon, Mint, Tofu Feta & Arugula Salad, Caramelized Fennel, Sweet Potato & Pine Nut Cheese Pizza and Strawberry & Hazelnut Streusel Cake with Maple Vanilla Glaze. And while the recipes are satisfying and simple to prepare, they are also crafted to offer a balanced, nutrient-rich menu of whole foods.
Whether cooking for four or twenty-four people, the vibrant recipes and beautiful photographs in The Long Table Cookbook will inspire readers to come together to enjoy their best health.
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Explore all the books on the 2020 Taste Canada Awards Shortlists.