5 cookbooks by Canadian chefs that you need on your shelf
Food Day Canada is coming up this weekend, so our team has been thinking about Canadian products and the people who celebrate them every day. Many of our customers are talented home cooks, but even the best amateur chefs can appreciate a great cookbook. There’s something really satisfying about flipping through the pages, choosing a meal to make, following the recipe and having it turn out just like the photo—or in some cases, even better!
In honour of Food Day Canada, here are five excellent Canadian cookbooks to inspire you. If you have another favourite cookbook or online resource for Canadian recipes, please tell us about it in the comments on Facebook or Instagram. We’d be happy to discover more delicious recipes that use our high quality Ontario beef, poultry, lamb and pork products!
A Cookbook and Homestyle Cookery by Matty Matheson
We’re starting with a recommendation that is actually two separate cookbooks, but stay with us—we couldn’t pick a favourite so they’re both on the list. A Cookbook is an excellent collection of innovative recipes including Rotisserie Prime Rib, Broccoli-Chicken Cheddar Curry Casserole, Vietnamese Steak Tartare, Nashville Hot Chicken, Coca-Cola Pork Belly and Grilled Short Ribs and more. Homestyle Cookery offers somewhat simpler recipes that are just as delicious, plus more of Matheson’s chef-level meals with clear instructions to help you feel like a pro. Both books deserve a place on your kitchen shelf so you can grab whichever one matches the occasion (or what’s in your fridge).
Farm to Chef by Lynn Crawford
If you love rustic but elegant dishes made with simple, beautiful ingredients, this is the cookbook for you. Chef Lynn Crawford may spend a lot of time in Toronto, where she ran the critically acclaimed restaurant Ruby Watchco for many years before its closing, but her recipes are definitely inspired by farmland outside of the city. Farm to Chef has a great variety of recipes that work for Sunday dinner with the family or your next dinner party. We love that this recipe collection has a strong focus on cooking with the seasons—that’s the way to do it!
Modern Native Feasts by Andrew George Jr
A collection of contemporary Indigenous recipes by Chef Andrew George of Wet’suwet’en Nation in British Columbia, Modern Native Feasts features lighter, more nutritious versions of many traditional dishes. Chef George has a deep respect for the land and sea, and all of his recipes focus on high quality ingredients from local sources. There are a few innovative twists like adding Asian flavours, like the bison ribs with Thai spices, plus plenty of comforting soups and stews. You can replace game for beef or another protein in many instances, so there is some flexibility in these recipes if certain ingredients are unavailable in your region. This is an impressive, imaginative recipe book that explores a rich and varied culinary landscape. You’ll want to make everything at least once!
County Heirlooms by Natalie Wollenberg and Leigh Nash
Created by a food-loving editorial team in Prince Edward County, County Heirlooms focuses on the use of fresh local ingredients to create mouth-watering, inspired dishes. There are great apps, side dishes, salads and of course, excellent preparations for beef and poultry. The food you’ll make is incredible, but nothing is too intimidating, so this collection is perfect for any level of ability in the kitchen. County Heirlooms is particularly unique because it includes interviews from a variety of chefs and food producers in PEC, so each recipe comes from a unique source in the county. You may enjoy the stories as much as the food!
Farm, Fire and Feast by Michael Smith
You may recognize Chef Michael Smith from the Food Network, where he’s hosted a number of shows including Chef at Home. These days, Chef Smith is busy running The Inn at Bay Fortune on Prince Edward Island. This extraordinary cookbook celebrates the type of meals he makes for guests at the inn: local seafood and protein cooked over open fire, delicious sides made with fresh local produce, and incredible desserts with farm-fresh ingredients. Farm, Fire and Feast is a great cookbook for someone who wants to experiment with open-fire outdoor cooking, but you can definitely make these recipes indoors or on a propane grill if you don’t have a backyard fire pit handy. Enjoy!
Thanks for reading and please share this post with anyone who may enjoy it. We hope to see you in store soon!
