The Flavours of Canada

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

Canada has yet to develop a cuisine as distinctive as Italy, France, or
China but that does not mean we are a culinary wasteland. Anita Stewart
has already written a dozen travel and cookbooks. In this new book, she
draws on that enormous experience to take her readers on a tour of fine
Canadian cuisine.

The text is divided by region: British Columbia, Prairies, Ontario,
Quebec, and Atlantic Canada. Stewart begins each chapter with a
description of the unique culinary features of the region and why she
likes to dine there. Many of the recipes are upscale versions of
familiar Canadian staples: Loin of Lamb with Millet Crust, Fireweed
Honey Lavender Ice Cream, Potato-Crusted Rainbow Trout with Braised
Fruited Savoy Cabbage, Rustic White Bread with Local Honey, Blackberry
Custard Tart with Alberta Springs Rye Whisky-Laced Cream, Northern Pike
with Wheat Berry Tabbouleh, and Fiddlehead Chowder Laced with Chili Oil.
At the same time, Stewart is not afraid to dig into food with the common
touch, such as Flop (ham and cabbage soup) from Newfoundland or
Oktoberfest-style Roasted Pig Tails from Waterloo, Ontario. Stewart
includes a list of her favorite restaurants across Canada and an index
of recipes sorted by food type.

More than 150 recipes are presented in clear, easy-to-follow steps, and
they are interwoven with nearly as many gorgeous photographs by veteran
food photographer Robert Wigington. The result is a meld of coffee-table
and cookbook formats. The book’s large dimensions make it a bit of a
handful in the average kitchen but dedicated food lovers will find these
recipes too tempting to leave untested.