Remembering Anita Stewart
Guardian columnist honours food writer with her recipe for The Best Perogies
Anita Stewart, who died on Oct. 29, was a leader (some would say the leader) in gaining recognition of and appreciation for Canadian cuisine through her own research, writing and speaking and through the networks she established to carry out similar work.
Her passion for promoting the foods of Canada began several decades earlier, but I first became aware of Stewart in 2003, when she initiated a coast-to-coast barbecue at 6 p.m. on Aug. 2, in support of Canadian beef producers who were struggling when the United States and 40 other countries closed their borders to Canadian beef after BSE, commonly called mad cow disease, was found in a black Angus cow from northern Alberta.
The pan-Canadian barbecue became an annual event and morphed into Food Day Canada, celebrated on the Saturday of the August long weekend which is observed in many provinces (though not P.E.I.)
From its roots as an event primarily intended to celebrate Canadian beef, the World’s Longest BBQ has evolved into an occasion to celebrate, appreciate and support farmers, fishers, food producers, chefs, researchers and everyone else involved in bringing Canadian food to the table. Mark the date now for next year’s Food Day Canada, Saturday, July 31, on the calendar.
Stewart’s activities in support of Canada’s food spanned decades and is too extensive to itemize here. Notable to me is that in 1994 she established Cuisine Canada as a culinary alliance of food professionals. As organizations do, Cuisine Canada evolved into Taste Canada, which, incidentally, announced the 2020 winners of its cookbook awards (English and French) at a virtual gala on Sunday, October 25. You can find the list of awards at tastecanada.org/2020-tastecanada-award-winners/
I have, in my collection, six cookbooks that Stewart either wrote or co-wrote, and in honour of her memory – plus my own interest in digging
deeper into Canadian cuisine from our part of the country and farther afield – I am inspired to use them this week.
Following is a recipe for perogies that students prepared about 10 years ago at Bluefield community school as part of a series called Simple Feasts with Island Foods. It’s a tasty way to serve Island spuds.