Rediscovering Acadian Cooking

Who were the Acadians? Where did they come from? What is Acadian cooking and how does it differ from Canadian cooking? What are “foodways” and why are they so important in culture? These questions led food writer Simon Thibault's exploration of his Acadian roots and family recipes in his book Pantry and Palate: Remembering and Rediscovering Acadian Food.

As Simon writes in the book, “Cooking from many of these old recipes wasn’t always easy. The majority of the recipes only had a basic list of ingredients, and they rarely included directions, let alone detailed ones. So not only did I have to decipher what to do and in what order, but I also had to figure out how to record that information. It was like having a stilted conversation that was decades long: You need this much of this, and that much of that. You know what to do. I was determined to gather the same strength of character and ease in the kitchen that these women had, if only in the smallest of doses. Reading through these impeccably scripted notebooks, I found myself wondering about these recipes: How hot did this oven need to be to bake this cake? (350 F, apparently.) Was it a coincidence that the blood pudding/sausage recipe was written on the same page as one for doughnuts? (Fresh pig’s blood also means fresh pig’s fat, enough for deep-frying those wonderful treats.)”

Tune in to listen to Simon's insights and tips for Acadian cooking!

Simon Thibault quote excerpted from Pantry and Palate by Simon Thibault © 2017, Text by Simon Thibault. All rights reserved. Published by Nimbus Publishing