Speaking in Cod Tongues
A Canadian Culinary Journey
Description
"What is Canadian cuisine? Lenore Newman distils much of the current thinking into the erudite and elegantly readable Speaking in Cod Tongues. Her odyssey across the country provides a wealth of culinary detail, giving us a vivid contemporary portrait of Canada's complex and ever-evolving foodways. " -- James Chatto, National Culinary Advisor, Gold Medal Plates
"A captivating work. Newman recognizes that our food is intrinsically linked to the land and the sea, where foraging and fishing sustained and comforted many generations. " -- Barry C. Parsons, creator of RockRecipes. com
"As someone deeply connected with regional expressions of food culture in Canada, I know this book will occupy a special place in my library. The idea of an overarching national cuisine for Canada is as complex as the country is diverse. What a wonderful gastronomical journey of discovery!" -- Jamie Kennedy, C. M., owner/chef Jamie Kennedy Kitchens
Reviews
"This debut lives up to the promise of its intriguing title as Newman takes readers on a coast-to-coast journey across Canada, sampling local foods that historically were or have become an intrinsic part of the character of each place. .. Going far beyond maple syrup and poutine, readers will vicariously taste a bounty of regional specialties such as seal flipper pie, elk tartar, fiddleheads, and blueberry grunt. " - Publishers Weekly
"From historical events that have resulted in our coast-to-coast multiculturalism to how different international cuisines have fused together to become something unique altogether, the chapters of this book paint a picture of a Canada that we should be proud of. " - Eat North
"Speaking in Cod Tongues is full of mouth-watering examples and histories that eloquently demonstrate how Canadians are what they eat, regardless of whether dinner that night is at a Chinese-Canadian restaurant in a small town in the prairies, at a roadside stand selling poutine in eastern Canada or at a trendy, high-end sushi joint in a Vancouver bistro. " -- Toronto Star
"What is Canadian cuisine? South of the border, the term conjures up little more than poutine, that mess of french fries smothered in gravy and crowned with cheese curds. Not so fast, says Newman in this detailed survey of Canadian cooking. Based on meticulous research and on her own peregrinations across Canada's vast expanses, Newman posits three defining characteristics of Canada's cuisine: wild foods, seasonality, and the ever-expanding influence of multiculturalism. She refers to the nation's multiculturalism as 'Canadian creole,' borrowing a word typically used for communities much further to the south. .. Food-history collections and regionally oriented libraries can fill out an often-neglected segment of their book stocks. " - Booklist
"[Newman] seeks to explore and explain Canadian cuisine, zeroing in on seasonality, wild ingredients and multiculturalism as the key identifiers. " - Globe and Mail
"Newman looks specifically at how Canadians eat outside of the home: at restaurants, roadside stands, and public markets; on trains and ships; and in public squares and parks. In doing so, she explored the ways Canadian cuisine is entwined with the historical tropes of Canadian identity: fresh, wild, seasonal, multicultural, and regionally distinct. " - National Post