“Excellent example” of what a book can be: Review of French Taste in Atlantic Canada
Delighted that the journal Ethnologies is getting caught up with book reviews this month (Ethnologies 36 (1-2)), because three CBUP books are included: Celtic Threads, Bearing the People Away and French Taste in Atlantic Canada.
Of French Taste in Atlantic Canada – 1604-1758: A Gastronomic History / Le goût Français au Canada Atlantique 1604-1758 : Une Histoire Gastronomique, by Anne Marie Lane Jonah and Chantal Véchambre (CBUP 2012), the reviewer writes:
“Jonah and Véchambre’s book is an excellent example of how a book can be part historical research and part cookbook: the authors are able to retain the interest of the reader, yet it is not too disjointed as to interrupt the flow of the text.
“Following the accounts of the lives of some of the first French settlers of Cape Breton was a wonderful way in which to bridge the gap between recipes and history.The level of detail used to describe these lives is extraordinary, and really adds to the book.
“French Taste in Atlantic Canada … is an informative and detailed examination of Acadian and Louisbourg foodways, with no glaring omissions or gaps in the history … in an accessible manner, which makes the book appeal to many different audiences, whether a historian, a student, or a home cook. I appreciated the chapter layout of the book (laid out by history and meals), and while the recipes are good, the real strength of this book is how the writers were able to bring history and personal accounts together to show the contemporary reader the importance of food in the building of French colonies in Atlantic Canada.”
French Taste in Atlantic Canada won an Atlantic Book Award in 2013.