Pioneer Kitchens: Our Heritage from Many Lands

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

This is a cookbook and a social history—a collection of recipes and a
scrapbook of culinary traditions and memories. The book is the product
of the Southern Alberta Pioneers and Their Descendants, a group
dedicated to perpetuating the memory of the people who settled in
Alberta before 1890. A recipe collection is an appropriate way to do
this, because food tells us a lot about an era. When the menu consists
of “hard grease pemmican,” “tongue and turnip,” “blackberry
dumpling,” and “potted birds,” we immediately have a vivid picture
of a distinct way of life. From that menu, we can imagine the work done
by the member of the family, and visualize the kitchen in which the food
is prepared.

The collection reflects the different nationalities of Alberta
pioneers, with sections of First Nations, British, Scandinavian,
European, and Oriental recipes. Most of the recipes are in their
original form; others have been updated for use today. In many, the
ingredients are evocative of an earlier time: lard, “pouring cream,”
rosehips, molasses, pigeons, dried chokecherries, split peas, salt pork,
suet. Measurements vary from conventional imperial to what might be best
called early Canadian: a pinch, a chunk, a coffeecup, a teacup, a dash.

More than 30 high-quality photos from the Glenbow Archives supplement
the recipes’ work in presenting a portrait of pre–1900 Alberta. The
volume, variety, and uniqueness of recipes and the care and
professionalism shown in their presentation make this a book to be
treasured by cooks and social historians all across Canada.