Penguin Canada was the big winner at this year’s Taste Canada Awards with several of its high-profile chef authors, including Vikram Vij and Lynn Crawford, taking home gold prizes.
The awards, which aim to celebrate the best in Canadian food writing, took place on Oct. 29 at its new venue, the Royal York Hotel in Toronto.
This year’s Hall of Fame Awards were presented in absence to The Galloping Gourmet host Graham Kerr, and to Constance Hart (posthumous), the first Jewish person in Canada to publish a cookbook.
The winners were selected from 91 English- and French-language cookbooks and 50 food blogs. In the French-language category, Governor General Literary Award–winning author Kim Thúy won for her cookbook, Le Secret des Vietnamiennes, which is available in translation through Appetite by Random House.
Here is the list of English-language recipients:
Culinary Narratives
Gold: Vij by Vikram Vij (Penguin Canada)
Silver: 9000 Years of Wine by Rod Phillips (Fitzhenry & Whiteside)
General Cookbooks
Gold: Farm to Chef: Through the Seasons by Lynn Crawford (Penguin Canada)
Silver: The Simple Bites Kitchen by Aimée Wimbush-Bourque (Penguin Canada)
Regional/Cultural Cookbooks
Gold: Feast: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip by Lindsay Anderson and Dana VanVeller (Appetite by Random House)
Silver: The Okanagan Table: The Art of Everyday Home Cooking by Rod Butters (Figure 1 Publishing)
Single-Subject Cookbooks
Gold: All the Sweet Things: Baked Goods and Stories from the Kitchen of Sweetsugarbean by Renee Kohlman (TouchWood Editions)
Silver: Cooking with Cocktails by Kristy Gardner (Countryman Press)
Health and Special Diet Cookbooks
Gold: Yum & Yummer: Ridiculously Tasty Recipes That’ll Blow Your Mind, But Not Your Diet! by Greta Podleski (One Spoon Media)
Silver: The First Mess Cookbook by Laura Wright (Penguin Canada)
General Food Blogs
Gold: Rhubarb & Cod by Susan Keefe (www.rhubarbandcod.com)
Silver: The Lemon Apron by Jennifer Emilson (www.thelemonapron.com)
Health and Special Diet Blogs
Gold: Oh She Glows by Angela Liddon (www.ohsheglows.com)
Silver: Joyous Health by Joy McCarthy (www.joyoushealth.com)