The 2025 Taste Canada Awards were announced today. The Awards are presented to outstanding Canadian cookbooks in both English and French languages. This is the biggest night of the year for Canadian cookbook authors.
Unlike other cookbook awards, Taste Canada presents both gold and silver awards in each category for each language, resulting in a bevy of winners despite having only five subject areas. There are also inductees to the Hall of Fame, which this year were Michael Smith and Julia Aitken. A professional chef, Michael Smith has written several best-selling cookbooks over 25 years. As proprietor of The Inn at Bay Fortune and The Fortune Bridge House, Michael’s culinary practice is rooted in the terroir of Prince Edward Island, where he offers visitors true “farm to fork” menus and innovative and immersive dining experiences, such as the FireWorks Feast.
Julia Aitken was an experienced editor of several publications including Homemaker’s Magazine, Elm Street and Recipes Only. As a writer, you could approach Julia with confidence knowing that the proposals you presented to her would be acknowledged with respect but also, with a clear idea of her readers’ needs and desires, including the requirements of that particular publication. Julia also wrote cookbooks, beginning with Julia Aitken's Baker's Secret.
Now onto the award winners - the Gold and Silver honors for English language cookbooks went to the following books:
- Culinary Narratives - Gold: Hearty: On Cooking, Eating, and Growing Food for Pleasure and Subsistence by Andrea Bennett
- Culinary Narratives - Silver: Dining Out with History: At Atlantic Canada’s Historic Sites by Jan Feduck
- General Cookbooks - Gold: Heydays at The June Motel: Beach Town Classics by Katie and Fred Laliberte and Evan and Emma Baulch
- General Cookbooks - Silver: Matty Matheson – Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson
- Regional/Cultural Cookbooks - Gold: The Depanneur Cookbook by Len Senater
- Regional/Cultural Cookbooks - Silver: Souk to Table: Vibrant Middle Eastern Dishes for Everyday Meals by Amina Al-Saigh
- Single Subject Cookbooks - Gold: Kitten and the Bear Cookbook: Recipes for Small Batch Preserves, Scones, and Sweets from the Beloved Shop by Sophie Kaftal and Bobby Zielinski
- Single Subject Cookbooks - Silver: Milk Into Cheese: The Foundations of Natural Cheesemaking Using Traditional Concepts, Tools, and Techniques by David Asher
- Health or Special Diet Cookbooks - Gold: The Feel-Good Meal Plan: A Fresh Take on Meal Prep with Over 100 Nourishing Recipes to Feed Your Family with Ease by Lindsay Pleskot
- Health or Special Diet Cookbooks - Silver: Good Food, Good Mood: 100 Nourishing Recipes to Support Mind and Body Wellness by Tamara Green and Sarah Grossman
You can visit our Taste Canada Awards 2025 page to discover the silver award winners as well as view the longlist for English language cookbooks. You’ll also find links to view our 2024, 2023, 2022, and 2021 Taste Canada Award pages and a link to the Taste Canada site to view winners prior to 2021. Congratulations to the winners!
2 comments
averythingcooks
I did not recognize Julia Aitken's name BUT when I went on to read about her role behind both Homemaker's Magazine & Recipes Only, I had a massive flashback to my childhood where these publications were among my mother's favourite sources for recipes. I still have recipes clipped from both in my collection.
Andre_F