Research Sources

Canadian Cookbooks Online

  New Brunswick Canada Cook Book

On Canadian Cookbooks Online we will gradually post the cookbooks that tell us about the foods Canadians cooked, ate and shared in the past. We welcome suggestions.

Individuals and groups are invited to participate by contributing scanned books or pamphlets to the project. These should be Canadian cookbooks that are in the public domain and not available elsewhere online. (Normally, in order for a publication to be in the public domain, the author must have been deceased for at least 50 years.) To ask about contributing a publication, please contact info@culinaryhistorians.ca.

Please Note: Ingredients, methods and cooking times listed in the cookbooks digitized on this website are consistent with the kitchen appliances and techniques that were in use in the period of publication of the various books. Current equipment and supplies may produce different results that are inconsistent with contemporary food safety theories. The Culinary Historians of Canada disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information, especially for preserving.

Pre-1825

  • See additional resources below for links to early cookbooks published outside Canada.

1825-1876

1877-1899

  • Directions diverses données par la Rev. Mère Caron, sup. gén. des Soeurs de la Providence pour aider ses soeurs à former de bonnes cuisinières. (Montréal, 1878, Driver Q15.1).
  • The Home Cook Book by the Ladies of Toronto and Chief Cities and Towns in Canada, 1881 edition [first published 1877] (Toronto, Driver O20.12).
  • Cookery by Amy G. Richards (Montreal, 1895, Driver Q28.1).
  • B.Y.P.U. Cookbook by the Ladies of the Parry Sound Baptist Church (Parry Sound, 1899, Driver O89.1).

1900-1919

  • Galt Cook Book by Margaret Taylor & Frances McNaught, revised [3rd] edition (Toronto, [1898], 1902; Driver O58.3) – The first edition of The Galt Cook Book: Comprising a Large Number of Tested Recipes for the Kitchen, Dining Room and Sick Room was “compiled and edited by a committee of the Ladies Aid Society of the Central Presbyterian Church, Galt,” and published in 1898. Galt was a small town in southwestern Ontario that is now part of Cambridge in Waterloo County. The subsequent four editions credited Margaret Taylor, second president of the Ladies Aid, and Frances McNaught, fifth president, as the compilers and editors. A second edition appeared later in 1898 with revisions, such as duplicate recipes removed, others corrected, and new ones called plain, practical and common-sensical inserted. This edition is the same as the second.
  • The New Galt Cook Book by Margaret Taylor & Frances McNaught, revised edition, entirely re-set (Toronto, [1898], ca 1916-20, Driver O58.5).
  • Meals of the Day: A guide to the young housekeeper by Sarah Lovell (Montreal, 1904, Driver Q54.1). Digitization sponsored by Mary Williamson.
  • Public School Household Science by Adelaide Hoodless & M.U. Watson (Toronto, 1905, Driver O86.3).
  • Culinary Landmarks, or Half-hours with Sault Ste. Marie housewives, 3rd edition (Sault Ste Marie, 1909, Driver O84.1). Digitization sponsored by Elizabeth Driver.
  • Five Roses Cookbook. Lake of the Woods Milling Company (Montreal, 1915, Driver Q79.2).
  • The Toronto Cook Book by Mrs. Edwin James Powell (Toronto, ca 1915, Driver O345.1).
  • Iroquis [sic] Foods and Food Preparation by Frederick Wilkerson Waugh (Ottawa, 1916, Driver O371.1).
  • Aunt Hanna’s War-Time and Peace-Time Recipes AKA Aunt Hanna’s Cook Book Compiled by the Ladies of Ward 2 Patriotic Association of Toronto (Toronto, ca 1918, Driver O.3981). Digitized by Mark D’Aguilar.
  • Manuel de cuisine raisonnée adapté aux élèves élémentaires. l’École Normale Classico-ménagère de Saint-Pascal (Québec, 1919, Driver Q102.1): Updated and revised for a century, this is still considered to be the essential Quebec cookbook.

Pamphlets

  • Helps to Overcome the High Cost of Living. Zam-Buk Co. & C.E. Fulford Ltd. (Toronto, 1916, Driver O361.1). (Zam-Buk was a patent medicine.) Digitized by Jane Black, from the estate of her grandmother, Isobelle Margaret Hope (Black) nee Webster, who died on her 91st birthday, October 5, 2008.
  • How to Save Sugar, New sugar-saving recipes for the Wartime Housekeeper. Home Services Department, Canada Starch Company (Montreal & Toronto, ca 1917, no Driver number). Digitized by Jane Black, from the estate of her grandmother, Isobelle Margaret Hope (Black) nee Webster, who died on her 91st bCowans Cocoairthday, October 5, 2008.

1920-1929

  • Cowan’s Cocoa Recipes (Toronto: The Cowan Company Limited [1921]. 68p. O468.1). John Warren Cowan went into the business of selling tea and coffee in Toronto in 1876, diversifying into cocoa and chocolate in 1885. By the 1890s the Cowan Company was giving out samples of cocoa and boxes of chocolate ginger at the Industrial Exhibitions in Toronto, and by the time of Cowan’s death in 1904 the company products were for sale from coast to coast. In this booklet published in 1922, chocolate is recommended by the company as a healthy food for children, and ideal for invalids. An index on pages 61 to 62 lists recipes for chocolate beverages, bread and biscuits, cakes, cake fillings and icings, cookies and small cakes, desserts and custard and confections. Colour illustrations highlight various kinds of cakes, puddings and pies, and others depict a childrens’ party and a picnic. Digitization of the cookbook has been sponsored in honour of Annie Aziz, Toronto.
  • Canadian Cook Book by Nellie Lyle Pattison, 1925 edition [first published 1923], (Toronto, Driver O506.3).
  • 350 recettes de cuisine: Les écoles ménagères provinciales by Jeanne Anctil (Montréal, 1924, Driver Q73.3). Digitization sponsored by Amy Scott.

Pamphlets

  • Good Things to Eat Made With Cow Brand Baking Soda (Montreal, 1924, Q130.1). Digitized by Jane Black, from the estate of her grandmother, Isobelle Margaret Hope (Black) nee Webster, who died on her 91st birthday, October 5, 2008.
  • The Art of Sandwich Making: A collection of famous – and fashionable sandwiches. Canada Bread Co. (ca. 1926, Driver O576.1). Digitization sponsored in honour of Kathleen Mackintosh, Toronto.
  • Winke für den Haushalt für Sparsame Hausfrauen (Household Tips for Economical Housewives). E.W. Gillett Co. Ltd (Toronto, Winnipeg & Montreal, ca. 1926, no Driver number). A trilingual publication in German, Polish and Ukrainian. Digitized by Joyce Sirski-Howell.

1930-1938

Pamphlets

1939-1949

  • Kate Aitken’s Canadian Cook Book (The Standard, Montreal, 1945, Driver Q292.1). Digitized by Samantha George and volunteers at Parkwood Estate National Historic Site in Oshawa, Ontario.
  • United Farmers of Canada Cookbook. United Farmers of Canada, Saskatchewan Section Limited. (Saskatoon, 1940, Driver S82.1).
  • Canadian Cook Book for British Brides ([Ottawa] Women’s Voluntary Services Division, Department of National War Services [1945]. 36p. O1095.1) Presented as a letter of help from experienced Canadian cooks and housewives to the many young British women arriving as war brides at the end of WW2, this small illustrated cookbook is full of facts, explanations, advice, and commentary that still fascinates. The tone is wonderfully welcoming and reassuring, the information is clear and concise, and not at all patronizing. “New Ways, New Lands,” and “Canadian Meal Pattern” are but two of many sections describing explicit differences in culinary terminology, ingredients, vegetables (squash, eggplant, broccoli, corn), measurements, shopping habits, and kitchen equipment between the two countries and cultures. Some sample statements: “Don’t be surprised to see marmalade being eaten with bacon (3–4),” “You won’t find any margarine here” (2), “Pie is undoubtedly Canada’s favourite dessert” (4), “A great deal of ground meat is sold, labelled ‘hamburger’” (9), “The type of cake Canadians like best is lighter and richer than most British cakes. And how we do like icing!” (25), and “The average Canadian dislikes boiled fresh meat, almost as much as he [sic] dislikes suet pudding” (10). No one person was responsible for this fascinating social history treasure trove. It was issued by the Division of Women’s Voluntary Services, under the authority of J.J. McCann, Minister of National War Services, in collaboration with the Consumer Section of the Wartime Information Board and the Department of Agriculture. The federal Division of Women’s Voluntary Services* was started in autumn 1941 as part of the Ministry of National War Services (created 1940; disbanded 1948), which also included such sections as the Directorate of Censorship and the Salvage Division. Responsible for training and placing women into volunteer work across the country, the federal WVS was the main depot for many WVS centres across the country, who in turn collaborated with many community organizations to distribute ration cards, run children’s nurseries, collect clothing, staff canteens, collect and allocate wool for knitting clubs, and much else. Its director was Nell West (Mrs. W. E. West; dates unknown) and, after April 1943, its associate director was Mrs Paul Hamel, a widow whose two sons were artillerymen. Manitoba-born Nell West was a teacher and then social worker who had been assistant deputy director of public welfare in Ontario during the Depression, and after the war went on to be a senior advisor to the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, then president of the International Institute of Metropolitan Toronto. Her whole professional career was about assisting immigrants to Canada. As a Liberal Member of Parliament from 1935 to 1957, James Joseph McCann (1887–1961) held several Cabinet posts, including Minister of National War Services. He went on to direct the National Film Board. * Not to be confused with the Women’s Voluntary Services sections of the Canadian Armed Forces. Digitization sponsored in honour of Sheila Labatt, a Canadian in Britain.
  • Wartime Canada: A one-stop shop for numerous WWII recipe sources, including:
    • The Victory Cook Book. Navy League Chapter IODE (Victoria, 1941, Driver B109.1)
    • Economy Recipes for Canada’s Housoldiers. Home Service Department, The Canada Starch Company, (Toronto, 1943, Driver Q284.1)
    • The Maritime Cookbook; How to Eat Well Though Rationed by Josephine Gibson (Toronto, 1943, Driver O1074.1)
    • Ration Recipes. Robin Hood Flour Mills Limited (ca 1943, no Driver number).
    • One Hundred-Portion War Time Recipes (Philadelphia, 1918, but used in Canada, no Driver number).

Pamphlets

 

Further Cookbooks and Culinary Research Sources

Bon Appétit: A Celebration of Canadian Cookbooks/Les livres de cuisine canadiens à l’honneur: An archived online exhibition produced by CHC member Carol Martin for Library and Archives Canada in 2003–04. It includes books, art and artifacts representing Canadian culinary history from Indigenous traditions to modern tastes, as well as two searchable digitized cookbooks:

    • La cuisinière canadienne (Montreal, 1840, Driver Q1.1)
    • A revised edition of The Galt Cook Book (Toronto, 1898, Driver O58.2).

Borealia: The Early Modern Maritime Recipes Database: A digital record of recipes found in archival collections throughout the Maritime Provinces. Collections can be searched by keyword, recipe type or format. A full list of documents and sources is available, with contexts on historical recipe research and scholarship.

Canadiana.ca: A wide array of historical texts, including books and periodicals in all disciplines, searchable by keyword. It includes such cookbooks as:

    • The Peerless Cook Book by the Ladies of Montreal’s St. James Methodist Church (ca 1888)
    • The Molasses Cookbook. The Dominion Molasses Co. Ltd. (1912)
    • The Modern Cook Book for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island (ca 1917-1925)
    • The Purity Cook-book. Western Canada Flour Mills Co. of Toronto (ca 1932)

Cookbooks and Home Economics Collection: More than 3,800 downloadable and printable books from the Young Research Library Department of Special Collections at UCLA, the Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Prelinger Library available through the Internet Archive, including such classics as:

    • Mrs. Beeton’s Household Management
    • The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner
    • The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook by Fannie Farmer

Feeding America: A digital collection of over 75 of the most important American cookbooks from the late 18th to early 20th centuries, based at Michigan State University Library. Several of the featured books were commonly used in Upper Canada.

Food History Project of British Columbia: “Food packages and container labels are artifacts that reveal interesting information about the past. They are easily perishable and thus hardly survive. The digital collections of diverse food packaging here share significant stories about the food history of British Columbia.” There are five categories:

        • Multicultural (Imported & Local) Food Collections
        • Dairy Food Package Collections
        • Canning and Packaging Collections ·
        • Libation Collections
        • Menus and Catalogues Collections

Foods of England, an exhaustive research site that provides links to electronic versions of important cookbooks of the past available to Canadian cooks, including (among many others):

        • Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets by John Evelyn (1699)
        • The Cook’s and Confectioners Dictionary by John Nott (1723)
        • English Housewifry by Elizabeth Moxon (1764)
        • The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1747)
        • A New and Easy Method of Cookery by Elizabeth Cleland (1755)
        • The Experienced English Housekeeper by Elizabeth Raffald (1769)
        • The Complete Confectioner by Frederick Nutt (1789)
        • The Art of Cookery Made Easy and Refined by John Mollard (1802)
        • A New System Of Domestic Cookery by Maria Rundell (1807)
        • The London Art of Cookery by John Farley (1811)
        • The Practice of Cookery by Mrs. Dalgairns (1830)
        • The Cook’s Oracle by William Kitchiner (1830)
        • Modern Cookery for Private Families by Eliza Acton (1845)
        • Guide to the Art of Modern Cookery by Auguste Escoffier (1903)

McCord Museum: Recipes and Food Collection. The museum holds an extensive collection of Canadian cookbooks and related material, including manuscript recipes, of which some are digitized. In addition, the “What’s Cooking in our Archives!” project documents numerous vintage recipes tested by museum staff.

Newman Western Canadian Cookbook Collection: Prof. Lenore Newman of the University of the Fraser Valley has compiled a significant collection of online cookbooks dating from 1905 to 1968, including community cookbooks, pamphlets from food companies and related ephemera like a ration card, such as:

        • Recipes for Jam-Making. Canada Food Board (1918)
        • The Secrets of Menu Variety. Canada Starch Company (ca 1923)
        • The B.C. Apple Recipe Book (1946)
        • Damsel’s Delight by Anna Friedgut Chapter of Hadassah, Regina Chapter of Hadassah (1960)
        • Dishes of the Orient by Manitoba Buddhist Association. Maya Club. Ladies’ Auxiliary (1967)
        • Field Handling of Game: How to care for wild meat to prevent spoilage, so your wife likes the flavor. Manitoba Department of Mines and Natural Resources (1967)
        • The Art of Chinese Cooking. Chinese United Church. Ling Jun Unit (1968)

Recipes from Scotland, 1680s to 1940s: An attractive and useful (though somewhat difficult to navigate) compilation from the National Library of Scotland, which includes commentary and recipes from published books and manuscript cookbooks.

The Sifter: A searchable database designed to assist people with food-related questions that includes over 5,000 authors and 5,000 works with details about the authors and about the contents of the works.

What America Ate: An interactive website and online archive about food in the Great Depression, funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities, based on sources from the America Eats Project, which documented American eating across the country, including almost 200 community cookbooks and thousands of food-advertising materials from the 1930s.

What’s Cooking?: Nova Scotia Archives’ food history site, with 17 digitized cookbooks, including:

        • The Church of England Institute Receipt Book (Halifax, 1888, Driver NS1.1)
        • Elementary Text-book of Cookery (Halifax, 1898, Driver NS4.1)
        • The Bedford Recipe Book by the Ladies of All Saints Church Guild, (Bedford, 1910, Driver NS11.1)
        • The LaHave Cook Book by the Managers’ Auxiliary of St. John’s Church, Bridgewater, N.S. (Bridgewater, 1912, Driver NS 14.1)
        • Grand-Pré Cook Book by Ladies’ Aid of the Grand-Pré United Church (Kentville, 1939, Driver NS52.1)
        • Kitchen Army Nutrition and Receipt Book (Sydney, 1943, Driver NS56.1).

 

Suggestions for Further Reading

Periodicals

      • Canadian Living (1975-  )
      • Chatelaine (1928-  )
      • “Cooking Chat” columns by Mrs. William Wallace (née Thompson) writing as “Marie Holmes” in the Toronto Daily Star (1934-1947)
      • “Three Meals a Day” columns by Jessie Read in the Evening Telegram (1930s)
      • Columns by Margo Oliver in Weekend (1959-1982), a newspaper supplement that merged with The Canadian in 1979 to become, briefly, Today
      • Columns by Hélène Gougeon in The Ottawa Journal, Weekend and the Toronto Star

1940s

      • Cooking…with an Accent by Hélène Gougeon (1946)

1950s

      • Good Food (reissued as The Original Canadian Cookbook) by Hélène Gougeon (1958)
      • Secrets et recettes du cahier de ma grand’mère by Jehane Benoît (1959)

1960s

      • L’encylopédie de la cuisine canadienne / The Encyclopedia of Canadian Cuisine by Jehane Benoît (1963)
      • Second Helpings Please! by Norene Gilletz & Harriet Nussbaum (1968)
      • Food That Really Schmecks by Edna Staebler (1969)
      • The Graham Kerr Cookbook, by the Galloping Gourmet (1969)
      • The Laura Secord Canadian Cook Book by Laura Secord Candy Shops (1966)
      • Pierre and Janet Berton’s Canadian Food Guide (1966, revised 1974)

1970s

      • The Canadiana Cookbook: A Complete Heritage of Canadian Cooking by Jehane Benoît (1975)
      • The Christmas Cookbook: Great Canadian Recipes by Rose Murray (1979)
      • Classic Canadian Cooking by Elizabeth Baird (1974)
      • Cooking with Mona by Mona Brun (1977)
      • Ginger Tea Makes Friends by James Barber (1971)
      • Madame Benoît’s Microwave Cook Book by Jehane Benoît (1975)
      • More Food That Really Schmecks by Edna Staebler (1979)
      • Out of Old Nova Scotia Kitchens by Marie Nightingale (1970)

1980s

      • Across the Table, An Indulgent Look at Food in Canada by Cynthia Berney Wine (1985)
      • Canadian Family Cooking, Best of Regional Recipes by Norman Kolpas (1986)
      • The Canadian Living Cookbook by Carol Ferguson and the food writers of Canadian Living Magazine (1987)
      • The Canadian Living Microwave Cookbook, by Margaret Fraser and the food writers of Canadian Living Magazine (1988)
      • The Canadian Living Rush Hour Cookbook by Margaret Fraser and the food writers of Canadian Living Magazine (1989)
      • Coast to Coast, A Province by Province Guide to Easily Prepared Canadian Gourmet Meals by Sheila Shepherd (1984)
      • From the Kitchens of the World: A Canadian Feast by Val Clery & Jack Jensen (1981)
      • The Great Canadian Cookbook: A Celebration Of Canadian Traditions and Cooking by Bunny Barss (1987)
      • James Barber’s Immodest but Honest Good Eating Cookbook (1986)
      • Lucy Waverman’s Seasonal Canadian Cookbook (1989)
      • Rose Murray’s Vegetable Cookbook (1983)
      • Wok with Yan Television Cookbook by Stephen Yan (1988)

1990s

    • The BamBoo Cooks! Recipes from the Legendary Nightclub by Richard O’Brien and Patty Habib (1997)
    • Byron’s New Home Cooking by Byron Ayanoglu (1993)
    • The Canadian Living Entertaining Cookbook by Carol Ferguson and the food writers of Canadian Living magazine (1990)
    • A Century of Canadian Home Cooking by Carol Ferguson & Marg Fraser (1992)
    • The Dave Nichols Cookbook (1993)
    • Marie Nightingale’s Favourite Recipes (1993)
    • The New Canadian Basics Cookbook by Carol Ferguson (1999)
    • The Ontario Harvest Cookbook, An Exploration of Feasts and Flavours by Julia Aitken and Anita Stewart (1996)
    • The President’s Choice Barbeque Cookbook, 150 Great Tastes of Summer (1995)
    • Rose Murray’s New Casseroles and Other One-Dish Meals (1996)
    • A Taste of Quebec by Julian Armstrong (1990, revised 2001)
    • The Urban Peasant: Recipes from the Popular Television Cooking Series by James Barber (1994)