Taste Canada releases shortlist for 2023 awards

Now in its 26th year, Taste Canada Awards / Les Lauréats des Saveurs du Canada has announced its shortlist of cookbooks vying for a coveted culinary writing award. Seventy-six cookbooks entered the competition, written by authors from across Canada. The shortlist narrowed the competition to 41 entries, featuring authors from six provinces. The winners will be announced at the Taste Canada Awards Soirée, scheduled for October 30.

The awards are split between English and French language books, both including several categories of awards: Culinary Narrative, which is for books that are not primarily about recipes, such as books exploring culinary history, politics, social awareness, memoir or biography; General; Single Subject; Regional/Cultural; and Health or Special Diet.

The English-language shortlist is as follows:

Culinary Narrative

• Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives: An Island Memoir by Margot Fedoruk by Margot Fedoruk
• Have You Eaten Yet?: Stories from Chinese Restaurants Around the World by Cheuk Kwan
• My Ackee Tree: A Chef’s Memoir of Finding Home in the Kitchen by Suzanne Barr
• Recipes and Reciprocity: Building Relationships in Research edited by Hannah Tait-Neufeld and Elizabeth Finnis
• What We Talk About When We Talk About Dumplings, edited by John Lorinc

General Cookbooks

• Don’t Worry, Just Cook: Delicious, Timeless Recipes for Comfort and Connection by Bonnie Stern and Anna Rupert
• Make Every Dish Delicious: Modern Classics and Essential Tips for Total Kitchen Confidence by Lesley Chesterman
• More Mandy’s: More Recipes We Love by Rebecca Wolfe and Amanda Wolfe and Meredith Erickson
• Best of Bridge Everyday Celebrations: 125 Recipes for Friends and Family by Emily Richards and Sylvia Kong
• The Lemon Apron Cookbook: Seasonal Recipes for the Curious Home Cook by Jennifer Emilson

Regional/Cultural Cookbooks

• Langdon Hall: A Cookbook by Jason Bangerter and Chris Johns
• New Indian Basics: 100 Traditional and Modern Recipes from Arvinda’s Family Kitchen by Preena Chauhan and Arvinda Chauhan
• Only in Saskatchewan: Recipes & Stories from the Province’s Best-Loved Eaterie by Naomi Hansen
• Peak Season: 12 Months of Recipes Celebrating Ontario’s Freshest Ingredients by Deirdre Buryk
• Where the River Narrows: Classic French & Nostalgic Québécois Recipes From St. Lawrence Restaurant by Jean-Christophe Poirer

Single Subject Cookbooks

• Caesar Country: Cocktails, Clams & Canada by Aaron Harowitz and Zack Silverman
• Fermenting Made Simple: Delicious Recipes to Improve Your Gut Health by Emillie Parrish
• Great Scoops: Recipes from a Neighborhood Ice Cream Shop by Marlene Haley and Amelia Ryan
• The Artful Pie Project: A Sweet and Savoury Book of Recipes by Denise Marchessault and Deb Garlick
• The Miracle of Salt: Recipes and Techniques to Ferment Food, Preserve Ingredients, and Transform Your Cooking by Naomi Duguid

Health or Special Diet Cookbooks

• Butter and Flower: Cannabis-Infused Recipes and Stories for the Cannacurious by Ann Allchin
• Good for Your Gut: A Plant-Based Digestive Health Guide and Nourishing Recipes for Living Well by Desiree Nielsen
• PlantYou: 140+ Ridiculously Easy, Amazingly Delicious Plant-Based Oil-Free Recipes by Carleigh Bodrug
• The Edgy Veg Easy Eats: Quick * Tasty * Vegan by Candice Hutchings
• The Two Spoons Cookbook: More Than 100 French-Inspired Vegan Recipes by Hannah Sunderani

See our Taste of Canada Awards page for 2023, 2022 and 2021 and for prior winners see this page.