Canadians at Table: Food, Fellowship, and Folklore — a Culinary History

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.

Duncan is well known in Ontario as an authority on the history of food.
That reputation is a strength that will bring social history hobbyists
to this work. Unfortunately it is not enough to hold the reader’s
interest, given the monotone style and dull recitation of information
that characterizes the book. In a traditional textbook approach, Duncan
starts with the woolly mammoth and moves forward through Canadian
history, touching on events and developments that have influenced what
we eat. The parade includes the First Nations, fur traders, settlers,
Loyalists, chuck wagons, threshing bees, Victorian picnics, the
potlatch, lumber camps, railway dining cars, world wars, and even
agricultural fairs.

The roundup of contributors to Canadian’s food legacy includes such
factors as immigration, science, and travel. The economy, settlement
patterns, and “homeland cuisine” of immigrants all had an effect on
our food traditions. Reference is made to the publication of Women’s
Institute cookbooks; the influence of war brides; wedding, funeral, and
holiday food; tea at the Empress Hotel in Victoria; oyster suppers;
railway dining car; and dozens of similar sources and traditions.

All this content is solid—well researched, documented, and organized
to form a practical text. A few smudgy archival photos struggle
unsuccessfully to provide visual variety. Extensive quotes from letters
and other documents from the past do much more to enliven the plodding
text.