When I sat down this morning to write this review, I felt a bit stymied as I had not finished the book before book group met at my home yesterday. Now, I like all things food related. Growing food, preparing food, storing food and definitely eating food. Lenore Newman showed me another area of food that I had really never considered - the part that food has played in the development of Canadian cuisine. If we think regionally and within our own families, we have specific favourites. I can cite Saskatoon pie as one of mine from the berries common to the prairie provinces. There are numerous varieties of berries from the Maritimes to Vancouver Island, from far north borders to southern borders that have sustained all populations throughout history.
Speaking in Cod Tongues is a veritable buffet of foods that have become a Canadian creole. The term most people are familiar with is fusion, however Lenore Newman feels that our Canadian food experience has gone much deeper than just fusing two cultures. She has travelled across Canada examining the historical part that food and dining has played in Canada’s development as a country, the rise, fall and rise again of community markets, as well as the regional preferences and cultural effects of Canada’s multicultural landscape. She, with great dedication, has eaten her way across Canada. Most frequently she has studied the cuisine in restaurants, but has discussed some home cooking cuisine. You will not find recipes in this book, but what you will find is a fascinating perspective about the foods we take for granted each day. This includes the marginalization that can and has occurred with gentrification in urban areas and the exorbitant costs of food in the far north.
Christmas is a time when families gather around tables, parties always involve food, in fact any gathering whether large or small, involves food. Speaking in Cod Tongues, in 237 pages, simmers and bubbles with humour and a light touch. There are notes, references and an index following the text. I am continuing to read Speaking in Cod Tongues and it is now an important part of my personal library. Lenore Newman answers the question - What is Canadian Cuisine? Indigenous peoples and those Canadians that have come as immigrants to this country, by necessity and creativity have cooked up a delicious Canadian creole experience.
“But creole is deeper. It’s when cultures co-exist until they form a cuisine
together. And I believe that Canada has developed a bit of a creole.”
~ Lenore Newman, Author of Speaking in Cod Tongues
Title: Speaking in Cod Tongues
Author: Lenore Newman
Publisher: University of Regina Press, University of Regina
Copyright: 2017
Format: Paperback
ISBN-10: 0889774595
ISBN-13: 978-08897745599
Type: Non-Fiction
No comments:
Post a Comment