By Ariane Gauthier
La cuisinière canadienne, published in 1840, is one of the first cookbooks—perhaps even the very first—written and published in Canada. Its author wrote it for both professional cooks and the general public. This book marks the beginning of French-Canadian cuisine as such. In terms of style and content, it is intended to be efficient, seeking to encourage “wise home economics […] suited to the budgets of Canadian families.”
This book is available online (in French only) through Library and Archives Canada’s Aurora catalogue (OCLC 1140071596). Simply click on the “Access Online” button on the right side of the page in the “Retrieval Options” box.
The title page of La cuisinière canadienne (OCLC 1140071596).
To accompany the book, I found Yannick Portebois’s review of La cuisinière canadienne (which can be read for free on Érudit, in French only) very useful. It helps modern readers understand the measurements used at the time and the technical language that is no longer used today. It also presents the historical context in which this book was written. It was a key moment for the formation of Quebec’s cultural identity, with one foot in its French past and the other in the new reality of an ever-growing Anglophone population. Yannick Portebois noted the francization of certain English words and the use of bourgeois terms that would mark the vocabulary of Quebec’s emerging cuisine.
The challenge
As an amateur cook, I decided to take on the challenge of cooking a vintage recipe proposed in this book.
The first thing to understand is that recipes of the past, especially those that date back to the mid-19th century, are not written as they are in books today. There is no complete list of ingredients, quantities are approximate and recipes are presented in essay form. La cuisinière canadienne provides alternative ingredients, as needed. The goal was not to create recipes like the ones readers of today want, but to communicate the basic principles so that cooks can manage on their own. In a way, La cuisinière canadienne determines the destination, but it is up to us to choose how to get there—that is, the ingredients, quantities and technique.
The pages of La cuisinière canadienne that were most helpful to me in preparing my recipe (OCLC 1140071596).
My first challenge was to write the recipe, because La cuisinière canadienne does not provide a complete recipe for pumpkin pie. Chapter X contains a recipe for pie dough (or shortcrust pastry) with only the vague indication of adding the jam of our choice to bake a pie.
To do so, it was necessary to read chapter XI on jams. Originally, I was hoping to make a good sugar pie, but La cuisinière canadienne does not provide any recipe for cream sugar or maple filling. So I settled for a pumpkin pie, which I thought was a good substitute.
Ingredients and materials used by the author to make the pumpkin pie from La cuisinière canadienne. Credit: Ariane Gauthier.
Once the recipe was written, the ingredients had to be gathered. The pie dough required flour, butter (melted) and milk (hot). La cuisinière canadienne says to mix everything until a dough is formed. Given the lack of more specific information, I relied on my existing knowledge. In recipes that I’ve followed before, the pie dough was very dry. Therefore, I added flour to a cup of melted butter and a cup of hot milk until I had a dry dough.
I confess that I did not measure the quantity. The idea is that the dough should barely hold together.
Then, I worked the dough so that everything was fully incorporated. I laminated it—that is, flattened it with a rolling pin before folding it on itself—and I repeated this over and over again until the dough became smooth and uniform. After that, I delicately placed the dough in a pie plate and cut off the excess. Usually, the dough should be perforated to make sure it does not inflate and baked a little to prevent the filling from soaking it. That is what I did before baking it for five minutes at 350°F.
Combining ingredients for pumpkin jam. Pumpkin cubes are boiled in syrup with orange peel for three hours. Credit: Ariane Gauthier.
In the meantime, I followed La cuisinière canadienne’s instructions for pumpkin jam. Basically, I had to stew pumpkin in an equal amount of syrup (or molasses) for three hours. I could also add orange or lemon peel to enhance the taste. Unfortunately, because it was not pumpkin pie season, I had to settle for a butternut squash. I chose maple syrup because it was the affordable option for cooks of the time. It was only after 1885 and the passage of the Tariff Act that maple syrup became a luxury product, with the price of cane sugar suddenly falling. In subsequent years, laws and measures protecting the maple products industry and the purity and quality also affected the price of syrup.
Due to the technological advances that have taken place since the publication of La cuisinière canadienne, I only had to wait about an hour and a half before the butternut squash was tender. I blended everything to obtain a more uniform jam, keeping the orange peel for taste. It was for better or worse, depending on taste, because this choice made the pie taste more of orange than anything else. Warning for the intrepid bakers who will try to cook their own pumpkin pie from 1840: it may be better to remove the peels!
Putting the pie together. Once the dough has been pre-cooked for a few minutes, the pumpkin jam is added, and the whole thing is put back in the oven to finish cooking. Credit: Ariane Gauthier.
Finally, I poured the jam onto the dough and baked the pie, still at 350°F. To determine when the dough was baked, I relied on my nose and my eyes. Here is the final result. What do you think?
The pie after it finished baking. After it visited Reference Services the next day, not a crumb was left. Credit: Ariane Gauthier.
My colleagues obviously loved it, especially my supervisor, who ate three slices. This recipe, although very different from our contemporary recipes, still seems to be appreciated!
The New Galt Cook Book – 1898
Cover page of the cookbook The New Galt Cook Book (OCLC 1049883924).
Although I have discussed a recipe from La cuisinière canadienne, its Canadian English equivalent is also noteworthy. The New Galt Cook Book was essential in English-Canadian kitchens. This is a new edition of a popular book, especially around Galt, in southwestern Ontario. The publishers said that copies of the book were sent to China, Egypt, India, South Africa, Australia and the United States. Like many old cookbooks, this book includes recipes, suggestions for simplifying household work and a list of remedies for common diseases.
If you try your luck with the pumpkin pie from 1840 or any other recipe from La cuisinière canadienne, please share your results on Library and Archives Canada’s social media accounts: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, Flickr or LinkedIn, using the hashtag #CookingWithLAC and tagging our social media.
Other Library and Archives Canada resources
- Blog: Buttery discoveries at Library and Archives Canada
- Blog: Jehane Benoît, grande dame of Canadian cuisine
- YouTube channel: 12 days of vintage cooking – Quick Jellied Salad (1959), From The Globe and Mail
- Podcast: Sifting through LAC’s Cookbook Collection
- Flickr album: Cooking
- Flickr album: Bakeries
Ariane Gauthier is a Reference Archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.
Library and Archives Canada Blog 
This is super fun! I think I may just have to try making it!
Please share pictures of your creation, we’d love to see how your pie turns out with such an old recipe! – Ariane
My mother would have loved this post… and I did too! What a novel idea to share a snapshot of life in the kitchen so long ago which also mirrored a much simpler lifestyle. Thanks! Fred Ericks
Thanks Fred! Happy you enjoyed the first blog post of this series. – Ariane
This is so amazing! Thank you so much for sharing this!
I am so happy you enjoyed reading my post. Stay tuned for more blog posts from this new series. – Ariane