Algerian meatballs hit the spot
Cookbook Cedar + Salt inspires Thanksgiving feast
Of all the cookbooks I’ve read, Cedar + Salt (Touchwood Editions, 2019) strikes at the heart of my food memories.
From travelling B.C.’S Old Island Highway to the juicy reward that comes after scrabbling through brambles for blackberries in late summer, Vancouver Island has its own unique sensory signature. A love letter to this beautiful slice of British Columbia, islanders DL Acken and Emily Lycopolus make this abundantly clear in their lush and eloquent book.
Joining other recent cookbooks, such as Jeremy Charles’s Wildness: An Ode to Newfoundland and Labrador, and Karlynn Johnston’s The Prairie Table, Cedar + Salt is among a new breed of regional Canadian explorations.
Inextricable from its location, it’s a snapshot of a specific food culture with expansive appeal all the same. These books tell a story — of food, of people, of landscape, of culture — and even if you’ve never set foot on the ground they’re rooted in, you can feel and taste what it’s like to be there.
“I think it’s much more important and interesting and relevant to look at what all of the different regions of Canada have to offer,” says Acken, a photographer and food writer who divides her time between Salt Spring Island and London, U.K.
“We have such a diverse country and it’s so exciting to dig in and find out what is in your own backyard.”
The choice to structure the book by geography coupled with Acken’s atmospheric photography gives readers a deeper sense of place.
“I hope that this will make people look in their own backyards,” says Acken. “I hope that we brought that message back that really all we need is right around us. We can make really exciting food with the stuff that’s right here.”
In the spirit of Thanksgiving, recipes from Cedar + Salt mark the harvest. “We always celebrate the bounty of the season with friends,” says Lycopolus. “There’s so much that we have in Canada when it comes to food. Exploring that — playing with our ingredients and creating with them — is where food traditions begin.”