Digestible Bits and Bites

CHC has just issued the video version of the fifth edition of our Baking for the Victorian Christmas Table: Plum Pudding & Mincemeat Tarts, a beautiful presentation filmed at Montgomery’s Inn in Etobicoke, Ontario, featuring CHC board member and historic cook Sherry Murphy demonstrating recipes from Eliza Acton’s Modern Cookery for Private Families.

The video includes a link to an extensive downloadable recipe booklet containing ten historical and traditional recipes (original text and modern interpretations) for Christmas Pudding, Mincemeat Tarts, Raspberry Sauce, Plum Cake, Gingerbread, Queen Cakes and Mackeroons. Admission: $23 (general); $18 (CHC members). No GST/HST applies. It's available for download from our website.

Mark Your Calendar!

• Saturday, January 15, 2022, 1 to 2:30 p.m. EST: Salt-Rising Bread Workshop: An introduction to a unique and now-vanished North American technique. Author and baker Genevieve Bardwell will not only show us how to make salt-rising bread, but also share some of the rich traditions and history around its creation and continued survival. Admission: $19.10 (general); $11.34 (CHC members). Tickets are already available on Eventbrite.
• February: Sequoia Miller of the Gardiner Museum talks about colonial dinnerware and how it reflected the foods being served and their social and cultural milieu.

Just A Bite: Last Chance!

• PDF version that you can fill in online
• Printable mail-in version 

CHC Call for Papers

• Proposals: February 1
• Acceptance by CHC: February 15
• Submission of papers: May 1
• Publication: October 1

Don't Miss the List!

• Your monthly Digestible Bits & Bites e-newsletter
• The annual Culinary Chronicles journal (new series)
• Significantly reduced fees for most programs and products
• Attendance and voting privileges at the AGM
• Contribution toward annual sponsorship of Taste Canada’s Hall of Fame, recognizing key figures in Canadian food writing
• Potential programs in development, such as members-only content on our website

RAWF Heritage Preserving Winners

• Heritage Jam Champion: Calico Peach Pineapple Conserve by Gryphon Ridge Highlands, Niagara On The Lake, Ontario (from a handwritten family recipe passed down through at least three generations)  
• Heritage Pickle Champion: Icicle Pickles by Craig Steven, St. Thomas, Ontario (from a friend's mother's handwritten recipe in use for over 60 years)

• Pineapple Jam by Louise Patteson, Cambridge, Ontario
• Raspberry Jam by Sue Hilborn, Woodstock, Ontario (from The Canadian Cookbook)

• Calico Peach Pineapple Conserve by Gryphon Ridge Highlands, Niagara On The Lake, Ontario
• Cranberry and Pear Jam by Henderson Farms, Wolfe Island, Ontario
• Black Currant Jam by Marjorie Paddle, Kingston, Ontario
• Cranberry Fig Jam by Gryphon Ridge Highlands, Niagara On The Lake, Ontario
• Strawberry Rhubarb Pineapple Jam by Marjorie Paddle, Kingston, Ontario
• Elderberry Jam by Joanne Holt, Guelph, Ontario
• Raspberry Jam by Wendy Mahoney, Warkworth, Ontario
• Black Currant Jam by Joanne Holt, Guelph, Ontario

• Icicle Pickles by Craig Steven, St. Thomas, Ontario
• Grammy's Beets by Ben Hatcher, Peterborough, Ontario
• Kosher Dill Pickles by Sarah Modesto, Etobicoke, Ontario
• Bread and Butter Pickles by Rodger J. Beatty, St. Catharines, Ontario
• Holiday Mustard Pickles by Ben Hatcher, Peterborough, Ontario

• Bread & Butter Pickles by Wendy Mahoney, Warkworth, Ontario
• Icicle Pickles by Marjorie Paddle, Kingston, Ontario
• Slippery Jacks by Marjorie Paddle, Kingston, Ontario
• Icicle Pickles by Joanne Holt, Guelph, Ontario

Taste Canada Hall of Fame 2021

Noorbanu Nimji was born in Kenya in 1934 into an educated, entrepreneurial Ismaili Muslim family originally from Gujarat, India. When she married at 19 she couldn’t cook yet, but she quickly demonstrated talent. In 1974 the Nimji family settled in Calgary.

Noorbanu’s unintentional cooking career began while teaching Ismaili recipes to homesick students. Her four cookbooks, collectively entitled A Spicy Touch, have been called “community connectors.” Volume one was published in 1986, followed by the others in 1992, 2007 and 2015. The last was subtitled Family Favourites from Noorbanu’s Kitchen, and was cowritten with Karen Anderson.

Over 250,000 A Spicy Touch books have been sold. Noorbanu’s cooking embraced her North Indian ancestral roots, her East African upbringing and its British colonial influence, and her life in urban Alberta. Noorbanu died in 2020, but her self-published Canadian cookbooks have preserved the oral culinary culture of the dispersed Gujarati-Kenyan Ismaili people in Canada and beyond.

Bonnie Stern needs no introduction to Canadians. Chances are you cook out of at least one of her 12 cookbooks. Her first was 1987’s Bonnie Stern’s Cook Book, and her twelfth was Friday Night Dinners, which highlights her Jewish heritage.

In between were her four famous and best-selling Heart Smart cookbooks and Bonnie Stern’s Essentials of Home Cooking, winner of an International Association of Culinary Professionals award in 2004. In 1971, Bonnie was an early graduate from the George Brown College chef school. She soon launched her career by opening a cooking school, which operated for 37 years, but she also wrote a national newspaper column and hosted three national television cooking shows. In a 2016 TEDx talk, she summarized her life of communicating flavourful everyday cooking by introducing herself as “a home cooking warrior.”
 

Potatoes and Rice Challenge Report

Clearly as the weather gets chillier, our thoughts turn to our comforting starchy friends. We asked CHC members and Facebook friends to share favourite potato or rice dishes, and the response was thrillingly eclectic.

Chantal Véchambre: Bisteu, a.k.a. Tourte Picarde (pictured above). "Trust them, French are very quickly to jump into a harsh debate when it comes to an ancestral recipe, mostly about the ingredients, according to the side of the street or the culinary habits of their grand-grandmother … Anyway, I would say that there are potatoes in all regions of France, but potato pie only in some of them, preferably in the centre and north of France: Limousin, Picardie, Berry, Bourbonnais (which claims to be the mother of all French potato pies). I opted for Picardie (which [has] the noun of Bisteu, after the ancient local language meaning the brown bread made then). So, some existential questions for you: puff pastry, thin dough or brioche dough? Raw or already cooked potatoes before baking? Mashed or sliced potatoes? Thin or large slices? Parsley or chives? Onion or not? Pork belly or ground pork? Even the presence of cream and eggs is not a consensus. Life is not so easy in the kitchen sometimes. 😂
Well, let's taste...."



Beverly Kouhi Soloway: "I came across a 1992 local fundraising cookbook with a recipe for Sleeping Giant Potatoes. As a Thunder Bay resident, I knew I had to try these! They are a play on chateau (turned) potatoes, which do look like little Sleeping Giants (our iconic rock formation). I think Chef Matthews is still with our local college, turning out more delicious dishes! I served my potatoes with sour cream on the side for dipping into, and they were so delicious."



Mya Sangster: "'To scallop potatoes'. I used Charlotte Mason's recipe." (

Alice Mac: "I make what we call potato 'Haystacks': Grate starchy potatoes, sprinkle with a little salt, and let any excess water drain off. Heat your favourite fat or oil in a pan—I use duck fat—and drop fingerfuls of potatoes into the fat. This is where they resemble haystacks. Fry one side until brown, Turn and fry the other side until brown. Drain off any excess oil and serve. #delicious"



Stephanie Thomas: "Tonight I made Savoury Potato, Mushroom and Leek Pizza. The recipe is from Foodland Ontario."



Jodi Robson: "Pan-fried in the good ol' cast-iron skillet, served with bannock and fried eggs. (Pan fried hotdogs requested by my daughters)."



Miki Uhlyarik: "This, after rough-chop wedged, extra virgin olive oil, salt, oregano, freshly ground pepper and sweet paprika, goes into the 450°F oven for 42 minutes. I catch you with catchup near it, I kill you!"



Elvira Regier Smid: "Persian jewelled rice! Made for me by a friend: partially cooked basmati rice is finished on a bed of sliced potatoes that become crispy in the process and are served around the rice. The topping is barberries, candied orange peel, pistachios, almonds and saffron. Delicious!"



Jennifer Meyer: "Lugaw is a hearty rice Filipino porridge/soup. Like most dishes my mother taught me, a recipe is never used. This is what many generations of Filipino mothers have made for their family when they are feeling under the weather. The seasoning is garlic, onion, ginger, saffron, patis (fish sauce), salt and pepper to taste. Chicken is the main protein, but boiled eggs often garnish the top. Other typical garnishes are fried garlic and green onion; however, like all Filipino dishes, the cook personalizes based on region, personal taste and availability of ingredients."



Cori Horton (a.k.a. Food Gypsy): "One of my favourite classic French potato dishes, Tartiflette! This recipe is so good, it was picked up by the Food Network. It makes the whole house smell like cheese!" ❤️

2. News and Opportunities

• Culinary Narratives
  • Gold: The Taste of Longing: Ethel Mulvany and Her Starving Prisoners of War Cookbook by CHC member Suzanne Evans, Between the Lines, Toronto
  • Silver: Flat Out Delicious: Your Definitive Guide to Saskatchewan’s Food Artisans by Jenn Sharp, TouchWood Editions, Victoria
• General Cookbooks presented by Egg Farmers of Canada 
  • Gold: Flavorbomb: A Rogue Guide to Making Everything Taste Better by Bob Blumer, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
  • Silver: Hawksworth: The Cookbook by David Hawksworth, Jacob Richler and Stéphanie Nöel, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
• Regional/Cultural Cookbooks
  • Gold: Kiin: Recipes and Stories from Northern Thailand by Nuit Regular, Penguin Canada, Toronto
  • Silver: Eating Out Loud: Bold Middle Eastern Flavors for All Day, Every Day by Eden Grinshpan, Penguin Canada, Toronto
• Single-Subject Cookbooks
  • Gold: Baking Day with Anna Olson: Recipes to Bake Together by Anna Olson, Appetite by Random House, Vancouver
  • Silver: The Hunter Chef Cookbook: Hunt, Fish, and Forage in Over 100 Recipes by Michael Hunter, Penguin Canada, Toronto
• Health and Special Diet Cookbooks
  • Gold: Eat Good Fat: Nourish Your Body with Over 100 Healthy, Fat-Fuelled Recipes by Lee Capatina, Penguin Canada, Toronto
  • Silver: Oh She Glows for Dinner: Nourishing Plant-Based Meals to Keep You Glowing by Angela Liddon, Penguin Canada, Toronto

• Les narrations culinaires
  • Gold: Supernaturel: Immersion dans le monde du vin nature by Vincent Sulfite, Les Éditions de l'Homme, Montreal
  • Silver: Le cidre au Québec: histoire, cidreries et coups de coeur d'ici by Stéphane Morin, Les Éditions de l'Homme, Montreal
• Livres de cuisine générale
  • Gold: Chez Lesley - Mes secrets pour tout réussir en cuisine by Lesley Chesterman, Les Éditions Cardinal, Montreal
  • Silver: Les recettes de Mandy: salades gourmandes et autres délices by Mandy Wolfe, Rebecca Wolfe et Meredith Erickson, Les Éditions La Presse, Anjou
• Livres de cuisine régionale et culturelle
  • Gold: Mangez local. Recettes et techniques de conservation pour suivre le rythme des saisons by Julie Aubé, Les Éditions de l'Homme, Montreal
• Livres de cuisine sujet unique
  • Gold: Ces muffins dont tout le monde parle by Madame Labriski (Mériane Labrie), Les Éditions de l'Homme, Montreal
  • Silver: À la plaque by Ricardo Larrivée, Les Éditions La Presse, Anjou
•  Livres de cuisine santé et diète particulière
  • Gold: La Cantine Végane—Recettes Pour Bons Vivants by Marie-Michelle Chouinard, Groupe Ville-Marie Littérature (VLB éditeur), Montreal
  • Silver: Presque Végé by Geneviève O’Gleman, Les Éditions de l'Homme, Montreal

Memories from a Historic Ottawa Bakery
Text by Julia Armstrong
Photos by Christina Lamothe (used with permission)

Morrison Lamothe Bakery Ltd. was founded in 1933 by two Ottawa Valley businessmen, Cecil Morrison and Dick Lamothe. The latter is CHC member Christina Lamothe’s great uncle. Christina’s grandfather, Thomas, also worked there as a baker. Morrison Lamothe delivered fresh bread to homes via horse and buggy. As buggies eventually gave way to trucks and routes expanded beyond the city, by the 1960s Morrison Lamothe was the largest bakery in the capital city—and one of its largest employers. Christina’s father, Tom, joined the business, first as a delivery man, and later as a personnel manager. Christina, an entrepreneur who earned her home economics degree at the University of Ottawa, recalls treats like plum pudding, shortbread and butter tarts.  

The company’s long history even includes a royal connection. In May 1939, during the royal tour of Canada, Morrison Lamothe catered a large Rideau Hall garden party in honour of King George VI’s birthday; on the menu was the bakery's icing-topped fruitcake. It was Christina’s grandfather who baked the three 300-pound cakes! Christina relates the family story: “My dad’s sister, who was about 20, assisted with serving, and when the cake was cut and the king tasted the first slice, he announced that it was ‘jolly good.’” The company seized the promotional opportunity and its newly christened Royal Fruit Cake became a best-seller. Christina still has the square pans in which the “royal” birthday confection was baked, and last summer she used them to make a wedding cake for friends.

The original copy of the recipe, given to Christina’s father in 1972 by former Morrison Lamothe baker Charlie Turnbull.

After grocery stores launched in-house bakeries and business declined, the company sold its bakery operation in 1980, but the Morrison Lamothe name continues as a Toronto-based frozen food manufacturer, run by the third generation of the Morrison family.

Our thanks to Christina, for sharing her updated version of the family favourite.

Charlie Turnbull’s Cherry Christmas Cake

• 3½ lb raisins
• 1 lb butter
• 1 lb icing sugar
• 9 eggs
• 4 cups + 2 oz flour (Charlie insisted it had to be hard wheat/bread flour)
• 1 lb candied (glacé) cherries, each halved
• 8 oz mixed candied peel

1. Place the raisins in a bowl and pour in enough hot water to cover. Let soak for 24 hours. Drain and let dry before using.
2. Cream the butter with the sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  
3. In a separate bowl, combine the halved cherries, candied peel and raisins. Dust the fruit evenly with 2 oz of the flour. Stir the remaining flour into the egg mixture. Fold in the fruit mixture just until combined.
4. Spread into 3 greased 9- x 5-inch loaf pans. (Christina notes that you could also use two classic tube pans; she recently made 10 small cakes in mini loaf pans, and for the photos below, she used 8- x 6-inch pans). Bake in a preheated 250°F (130°C) oven until a tester inserted in the centre comes out clean, 3 to 3½ hours, depending on your oven (test at 3 hours and bake longer if necessary).

3. Destinations

4. Food for Thought

• Elka Weinstein (CHC book review editor, Toronto)
• Julia Armstrong (Toronto)
• Judy Corser (Delta, British Columbia)
• Pam Fanjoy (Hillsburgh, Ontario)
• Luisa Giacometti (Toronto)
• Gary Gillman (Toronto)
• Sher Hackwell (Vancouver)
• Amy Lavender Harris (Toronto)
• Sarah Hood (Toronto)
• Frances Latham (Stratford, Ontario)
• Ivy Lerner-Frank (Montreal)
• Maya Love (London, Ontario)
• Fiona Lucas (Toronto)
• Jan Main (Toronto)
• Lisette Mallet (Toronto)
• Bennett McCardle (Toronto)
• Dana McCauley (Toronto)
• Dana Moran (Ajax, Ontario)
• Valerie Sharp
• Mary Lou Snow (Conception Bay, Newfoundland)
• Meaghan Van Dyk (Abbotsford, British Columbia)

5. Events of Interest

• Roma at Three Rivers in P.E.I.
• Fortress of Louisbourg National Historic Site in Nova Scotia.
• King's Landing in New Brunswick.
• Some parts of Upper Canada Village in Morrisburg, Ontario.
• The Canada Agriculture and Food Museum in Ottawa.
• Hutchison House Museum in Peterborough, Ontario: The Museum Office and Bookshop are by appointment only, but staff are on-site Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours by appointment Tuesday through Friday.
• Parkwood Estate in Oshawa, Ontario.
• City of Toronto historic properties (Colborne Lodge, Fort York, Gibson House, Mackenzie House, the Market Gallery, Montgomery's Inn, Scarborough Museum, Spadina Museum, Todmorden Mills, and Zion Schoolhouse).
• Black Creek Pioneer Village in Toronto.
• Dundurn National Historic Site in Hamilton, Ontario.
• Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in Edmonton.
• Roedde House in Vancouver.

6. International Conferences