Tag Archives: cooking

Sweet Potato Pie: A Timeless Delight from 1909 to Today!

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Cooking with Library and Archives Canada bannerBy Dylan Roy

You probably don’t know me, but you might recognize my hands from previous blog posts in this series by Ariane Gauthier. If you haven’t read the articles yet, I highly recommend doing so. In these baking adventures, I served as the muscle and hand model, guided by Ariane, a far more passionate and skilled baker than I. However, for the sweet potato pie recipe featured in this article, I embarked (mostly) solo into the complex and fascinating realm of baking.

As a novice baker attempting my first-ever baking project, I was initially apprehensive about following a recipe that provided very little guidance. Despite my doubts, my pie turned out quite tasty! I invite you to follow my journey below and try making the recipe for yourself.

Before delving into the culinary endeavours ahead, let’s explore the chosen recipe’s source.

Published in 1909, Culinary Landmarks or Half-Hours with Sault Ste. Marie Housewives was a labour of love by members of the St. Luke’s Woman’s Auxiliary from the Sault Ste. Marie area, in Ontario. It’s the third edition of what was originally known as the Handy Cook Book. The first version was so well received that a second and lengthier third edition were published. The third edition includes the recipe I followed.

The first question an inexperienced baker like myself might ask is: where does one start? The answer lies in following the recipe from Culinary Landmarks or Half-Hours with Sault Ste. Marie Housewives, which can easily be found in Aurora, Library and Archives Canada’s (LAC) library catalogue.

Recipe for sweet potato pie, by Mrs. P.T. Rowland.

A recipe for sweet potato pie from Culinary Landmarks or Half-Hours with Sault Ste. Marie Housewives (OCLC 53630417).

The ingredients for this recipe are rather simple. You need one pound of sweet potato, three-quarters of a pound of butter, three-quarters of a pound of sugar, six eggs, nutmeg, a bit of whisky, and some lemon zest (along with the components for the pie pastry, which we’ll discuss further below).

Upon reviewing this recipe, you’ll notice that there are no instructions on how to prepare the pie crust. As a rookie baker, this posed a significant challenge for me. Fortunately, I found salvation in a previous article in this series, which explains how to make pie dough.

Photo featuring ingredients for sweet potato pie: butter, whisky, flour, sugar, lemon, nutmeg, eggs, and sweet potato.

Ingredients used by the author to make the sweet potato pie recipe from Culinary Landmarks or Half-Hours with Sault Ste. Marie Housewives. Image courtesy of Ariane Gauthier.

Once you’ve gathered all your ingredients, you can start the pie-making extravaganza! The first step involves boiling the sweet potatoes. While the original recipe advises boiling the potatoes with the skin on, I opted to peel them for my own reasons.

After boiling them, I started the arduous task of pressing the still-hot potatoes through a colander. Be prepared for a bit of exertion during this step, but rest assured—it’s a great opportunity for a workout!

Collage of three images, including slices of sweet potatoes being added to a pot of boiling water; sweet potatoes being mashed with a spatula; and sweet potatoes being pressed through a colander.

Boiling and pressing sweet potatoes. Image courtesy of Ariane Gauthier.

Next, I beat six eggs in a bowl and set them aside. Then, I creamed together the butter and sugar. After that, I mixed in the sweet potatoes, continuing to blend. Finally, I added the eggs until the mixture was homogeneous.

Collage of four images, including sugar being poured into a mixer with butter; mashed sweet potatoes being added to the same mixer; and eggs being added after all the other ingredients.

Mixing butter, sugar, sweet potatoes and eggs. Image courtesy of Ariane Gauthier.

While mixing everything together, I must admit it didn’t look appetizing. However, I reminded myself to trust the process and have patience. This baking experience taught me the importance of believing in the recipe and persevering despite initial appearances. So, despite the unappealing look, I remained optimistic and continued on.

Once everything was mixed, I began incorporating the recipe’s flavours: nutmeg, whisky and lemon zest. This step is vital for enhancing the pie’s flavour profile. Initially, I added an ounce of whisky and a small amount of lemon zest and nutmeg. However, upon tasting, I found it lacking. Therefore, I continued to mix while gradually adding more lemon zest and nutmeg. After a few minutes, I achieved the perfect balance. Voilà! The mixture was ready to fill the pie pastry. As for the pastry itself, I baked it for about five minutes before adding the mixture, which may or may not have been a brilliant idea (I’ll leave that for you to discover by trying it yourself!).

Side-by-side images of whisky being poured into a mixer with other ingredients, and filling being poured into a pie crust.

Mixing in an ounce of whisky and adding the mixture to the pie crust. Image courtesy of Ariane Gauthier.

Baking the pie for about 30 minutes at 400°F (about 205°C) seemed to do the trick. I was a little worried about the filling puffing up, but I left the pie in the oven, even though it looked like a balloon ready to pop! I utilized some of the leftover dough to create designs on the pie and even had enough mixture left to make pudding. My cooking partner Ariane also made a pie. You can check out our final creations below.

Image featuring two sweet potato pies with embellishments made from leftover crust mix; a sweet potato pudding; and a pair of red oven mitts.

Sweet potato pies and pudding. The author’s pie is on the right, while Ariane’s pie is on the left.
Image courtesy of Ariane Gauthier.

Despite it being my first attempt at baking, I’m pleased to report that my pie turned out to be delicious, a sentiment echoed by my colleagues who sampled it. While the first pie provided valuable lessons on what to do and what to avoid, leading to improvements in the second attempt, the process was not without its trials and errors. Nevertheless, I wholeheartedly encourage you to try your hand at baking this pie and to share your thoughts as you savour a slice of history! With that said, I’d like to conclude this blog with an excerpt from the book that inspired this recipe:

Pastry: The queen of hearts, she made some tarts. All on a summer day; The knave of hearts, he ate a tart, And then, oh, strange to say! It smote his inmost, vital part—His heart was gone straightway.

Detail from Culinary Landmarks or Half-Hours with Sault Ste. Marie Housewives (OCLC 53630417).

If you try this recipe, please share pictures of your results with us using the hashtag #CookingWithLAC and tagging our social media: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn.

Dylan Roy is a Reference Archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

Cheese and walnut loaf from 1924

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Cooking with Library and Archives Canada bannerBy Ariane Gauthier

In 1924, the Department of Agriculture published the booklet Mangeons du fromage canadien : Recettes et menus. It highlights the health, nutritional and economic benefits of cheese, particularly Quebec cheese. Evidently knowledge of the nutritional value of this food has changed a lot since then. At the time, the booklet stated: [Translation] “There is no meal where cheese has no comfortable place, and he who goes to work fortified by this nutritious food will accomplish, with the same zest, the same amount of work as if he had eaten a hearty meat-based meal.”

I found this book in our online Collection Search tool rather than in our Aurora catalog. I was hoping to find something a little more personalized, like a family recipe slipped into an archived letter! Then I discovered a record from the Department of Agriculture on the export of Canadian cheese. Lo and behold, it was hiding the booklet Mangeons du fromage : Recettes et menus in English and French.

Cover page of a booklet with the inscription "Mangeons du fromage : Recettes et menus" [Translation: Cheese Recipes for Every Day].

Cover page of the booklet Mangeons du fromage : Recettes et menus, [Cheese Recipes for Every Day] published in 1924 (OCLC 937533172). Image courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

(This booklet can also be found in Aurora, OCLC 937533172. This is the easiest way to access it.)

This little book was tucked away in a pile of interviews, economic reports and photo envelopes about Canadian cheese from 1920 to 1924. It immediately piqued my curiosity.

But that did not stop me from reading the whole file. I learned that at the time, the dairy industry was quite unstable in Canada. Exports to Great Britain remained steady (especially for cheese) thanks to a particularly generous premium, but cheese consumption was declining. The British—our biggest buyers—no longer favoured this food as much, and neither did Canadians.

The Department of Agriculture and the producers were concerned: would Canada lose its place on the international market? In this context, Mangeons du fromage : Recettes et menus was born.

I went through the booklet looking for a recipe. My only criterion was to find something new, so I set my sights on a recipe for cheese and walnut loaf.

Text describing the ingredients and steps for the cheese and walnut loaf recipe.

Photo of the cheese and walnut loaf recipe (OCLC 937533172). Image courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

Cheese and walnut loaf recipe [translation]

One cup of cheese, one cup of coarsely chopped walnuts, one tablespoon of lemon juice, two tablespoons of hot sauce, three tablespoons of tomato sauce to moisten, one finely chopped onion, one cup of crumb, one tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
Place in a well-greased baking pan; roast on low heat and leave in the oven until the top is a perfect golden brown.

I began by gathering the ingredients, making sure to choose a Canadian cheese. I chose a local cheddar made near Ottawa.

Ingredients used for the cheese and walnut loaf recipe: tomato paste, hot sauce, cheddar cheese, breadcrumbs, olive oil, lemon, pepper, salt and walnuts. (The onion is not in the photo.)

The ingredients for the recipe. Image courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

The recipe called for one cup of crumb. This seemed odd to me, and I looked at the English booklet to compare. To my surprise, Cheese Recipes for Every Day featured completely different recipes. Not a single recipe for cheese and walnut loaf! To avoid wasting a good loaf, I chose to use ready-made breadcrumbs.

The first thing I noticed was the lack of instructions. The ingredients are listed, then it simply says to put everything in a well-greased pan and [translation] “roast on low heat.”

All ingredients placed separately in a bowl: cheddar cheese, walnuts, tomato paste, onions, hot sauce and breadcrumbs.

The ingredients in a bowl. The recipe does not say to mix them, but we can guess that this is the next step. Image courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

In short, the recipe seems to rely on the reader’s common sense, so I stirred the ingredients together. The result was quite dry, probably because of the breadcrumbs. I added a little water, but that did not help much. I stuck with it nonetheless, not daring to change the recipe too much.

Three close-up shots, side by side, showing the ingredients being mixed and transferred to a baking dish.

The ingredients are added and mixed. The result is more-or-less homogenous. Image courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

I then poured the mixture into a well-greased mould, which I had lined with parchment paper to make the unmoulding easier. Since no baking temperature was specified, I decided to put it in at 400oF and keep an eye on the loaf. After about 15 minutes, it had a nice colour and smelled toasty; I removed it from the oven. Here is the result:

Cheese and walnut loaf on a wooden board.

Cheese and walnut loaf from 1924, which barely stays together in one piece. Image courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

The loaf barely held together; it was obviously very dry. It did not survive the journey from my home to 395 Wellington Street, turning into a kind of crumble. Nevertheless, I think my colleagues appreciated the surprising taste, which I would compare to that of vegetarian spaghetti meatballs.

What do you think?

If I had to do it again, I would sacrifice a good loaf of bread to use its crumb; it would surely absorb the mixture better than the ready-made breadcrumbs. I would also use a local cheese with a higher moisture content.

If you try this recipe, please share pictures of your results with us using the hashtag #CookingWithLAC and tagging our social media: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn.

Additional resources:

Ariane Gauthier is a reference archivist with the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

Cream puffs from 1898

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Cooking with Library and Archives Canada bannerBy Ariane Gauthier

The New Galt Cook Book (1898) is a revised edition of a book that was popular in English Canada, particularly in the Galt region in southwestern Ontario. The publishers claimed that copies were sent to the United States, Egypt, South Africa, India, Australia and China. Like many early cookbooks, this collection offered recipes as well as hints for simplifying domestic chores, and a list of cures for common illnesses.

The book is available online on Library and Archives Canada’s published collections catalogue, Aurora: OCLC 1049883924.

As an amateur cook fascinated by old recipes and the history of cooking, I once again put my skills to the test, and this time I tried to make cream puffs. For my previous attempt at recipes from yesteryear, see my “A pumpkin pie from 1840” blog post.

Now, what needs to be understood when attempting to follow recipes as old as this one is that they differ greatly from the modern recipe format. Much like La cuisinière canadienne, a French-language cookbook first published in 1840, each recipe section begins with a text explaining the overall basics of the recipe type. In the case of cream puffs, authors Margaret Taylor and Frances McNaught decided to include their recipe in the Cookies section.

Page from The New Galt Cook Book with the cream puffs recipe followed by two other recipes.

Page 354 from The New Galt Cook Book by Margaret Taylor and Frances McNaught, Toronto: G.J. McLeod, 1898 (OCLC 5030366).

In the more than 50 years separating the publication of La cuisinière canadienne from that of The New Galt Cook Book, much about Canadian cooking had changed. This is evident in the required ingredients. The recipe for cream puffs calls for flour, butter and eggs for the pastry, and flour or corn starch, milk, sugar and more eggs for the cream filling. The final line in the recipe suggests adding either lemon or vanilla to flavour the cream.

There are two things of note here. The first is the inclusion of granulated sugar, which in 1840 was inconceivable for the lower classes. It was an expensive commodity, largely due to import tariffs that inflated the price. In my blog post about pumpkin pie from 1840, I mention that La cuisinière canadienne offered several alternatives as sweeteners, including syrup and molasses. These were the go-to sweeteners for Canadian cooks in the 1800s, until the 1885 Tariff Act came into effect and lifted the import tariffs on cane sugar. In the subsequent five years, the cost of sugar gradually became comparable to the cost of syrup and molasses. After 1890, sugar became the most popular sweetener because it was the cheapest.

The second item of interest is lemon as a flavouring option. In my pumpkin pie from 1840 blog post, I mention that La cuisinière canadienne suggested the inclusion of orange in the pumpkin filling. This was somewhat strange, as oranges were not imported as widely across Canada as they are today. However, given that La cuisinière canadienne was published in Montréal, which was the major commercial port of Canada at the time, access to this then-elusive ingredient was understandable. In comparison, Toronto was just at the start of its development. In the 50 years that followed the publication of La cuisinière canadienne, Toronto boomed into a metropolis, fueled by railway developments linking it to important North American cities like Montréal and New York City. As more railways connected Toronto more fully to the world, its commerce also diversified. In this case, lemon as a flavouring option is reflective of Toronto’s and Canada’s overall development. The lemon became a fruit accessible to cities located inland as transportation technology improved. This allowed for its distribution across greater distances, in climates not suited for local production.

With these interesting facts in mind, I gathered my ingredients and got to work.

Eggs, vanilla extract, milk, sugar, flour, margarine and lemon.

The ingredients for the recipe. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

I started with the cream puff pastry. Fortunately, unlike for the pumpkin pie, there was much less guessing this time around, as The New Galt Cook Book gives fairly precise measurements: “One and a half cupfuls flour, two-thirds cupful of butter, half pint boiling water. Boil butter and water together and stir in flour while boiling. When cool add five eggs well beaten; drop on tins and bake thirty minutes in a quick oven.”

Six photos showing the steps in making the dough: breaking eggs in bowl, stirring flour in another bowl, adding flour to boiling water and butter in saucepan, stirring saucepan ingredients, adding beaten eggs to cooled batter in saucepan, and stirring batter in saucepan.

Creating the cream puff pastry as described in The New Galt Cook Book. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

I needed to pipe the dough onto a lined baking sheet. Since I lacked a piping bag, I settled on the trick of using a reusable bag and snipping off the end. To transfer the dough more easily into the reusable bag, I used my coffee maker as a receptacle. Unsure of what exactly qualified as a “quick oven,” I settled for 400°F on convection and, as with the pumpkin pie, used my eyes and nose to determine when the pastry was done.

Three photos showing the steps in making the puffs: filling a reusable bag with batter, consolidating batter, and piping batter onto baking sheet.

Piping the cream puffs and getting them ready for the oven. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

Once the anxiety of baking the cream puff pastry was settled, I worked on the custard. Having made custard previously, I felt much more comfortable with this procedure. Once again, The New Galt Cook Book is precise: “Cream filling – One tablespoonful of flour or corn starch, one pint milk, one cupful sugar, two eggs. Beat eggs, flour and sugar together, and stir them in the milk while it is boiling. When nearly cool flavor with lemon or vanilla.”

Three photos showing the steps in making the cream filling: adding sugar to eggs and flour in bowl, pouring mixture in bowl into saucepan containing milk, and stirring filling in saucepan.

Preparing the cream filling as described in The New Galt Cook Book. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

The only piece of advice that I would add, based on my previous experience, is to be careful once you combine the egg, flour and sugar mixture with the milk. It is best to temper the mixture by adding a little of the boiling milk, whisking vigorously as you do so. This elevates the temperature of the mixture and allows for a smoother transition to the whole of the boiling milk as opposed to simply shocking it. Once the mixture is added to the boiling milk, it is important to whisk it constantly until it thickens; otherwise, you will wind up with sweetened scrambled eggs!

As for the flavouring, I chose to divide the custard, and flavoured one with vanilla extract and the other with lemon zest.

Finally, The New Galt Cook Book abandons the cook in the final phase of the recipe: the assembly. Knowing what a cream puff is supposed to be was extremely helpful here. The pastry is meant to be filled with the custard, so I put the custard in a reusable bag and snipped off one of the edges, since I do not own a piping bag. Before inserting the custard, I made an X-shaped incision at the bottom of each cream puff pastry to make the insertion easier.

One photo showing the cream filling being added to a puff, and another of the final product: a cream puff.

A filled cream puff. Courtesy of the author, Ariane Gauthier.

What do you think?

I was surprised by how well the cream puffs turned out, all things considered! These puffs are much lighter than contemporary cream puffs and allow for ample filling. I brought them to a Reference Section gathering, and my colleagues quite enjoyed them. This shows that, once again, these old recipes can stand the test of time!

If you try this recipe, please share pictures of your results with us using the hashtag #CookingWithLAC and tagging our social media: Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter), YouTube, Flickr and LinkedIn.

Additional resources

Ariane Gauthier is a Reference Archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

A pumpkin pie from 1840

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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.

Three pages of La cuisinière canadienne explaining certain cooking terms.

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.

Almond milk, squash, oranges, butter, flour, maple syrup, measuring cup, pie plate and rolling pin.

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.

Maple syrup, diced squash and orange peels in a pot on the stove.

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!

Three photographs showing the pie being put together: the dish with the dough only, the filling being poured onto the dough and the final dish before cooking.

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?

Photograph of the pie fresh out of the oven. Leaves, a feather, a book and the words BAC and LAC in dough are placed on the top of the pie.

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 with the title The New Galt Cook Book and an illustration of a woman with an apron holding a dish containing food.

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

Ariane Gauthier is a Reference Archivist in the Access and Services Branch at Library and Archives Canada.

Jehane Benoît, grande dame of Canadian cuisine

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Long before the arrival of specialty channels and “trend” gourmet publications, Jehane Benoît, grande dame of Canadian cuisine, helped train whole generations of cooks through her books and radio and television programs.

With training from the Cordon Bleu in Paris and a degree in food chemistry from la Sorbonne under her belt by the age of 21, Jehane Benoît didn’t take long to make her mark on the food scene in her native Montreal. Around 1933, she founded Montreal’s Salad Bar, one of the first vegetarian restaurants in Canada, and she opened the very first secular cooking school in Quebec, Le Fumet de la vieille France, where she taught thousands of students over nearly ten years.

In 1941, she published her first cookbook, Chocolate Around the Clock, which was followed by more than thirty other publications throughout her career, including the iconic Encyclopedia of Canadian Cooking, which to date has sold over two million copies. Starting in 1943, Ms. Benoît also became a well-known radio personality by appearing on various successful programs, including Radio-Canada’s Fémina. Her fame spread with her television debut around 1952, as she become a regular on various shows such as Femme d’aujourd’hui on Radio-Canada and Take 30 on CBC.

A woman ahead of her time, Ms. Benoît readily integrated new technologies in her cooking, becoming an early adopter of the microwave oven. She was a long-time promoter and spokesperson for microwave cooking, and wrote a series of cookbooks with specially adapted recipes. For her contribution to the culinary arts in Canada, Ms. Benoît was awarded the Order of Canada in 1973.

Library and Archives Canada invites you to read the article on Jehane Benoît in the Bon appétit! virtual exhibit (archived website) to learn more about this remarkable woman. And be sure to find out about the published works of this grande dame of Canadian cuisine!

Bon appétit!