“My long-conflicted relationship with mushrooms has gradually crystallized into a happy discovery of the delights of this versatile and tasty class of food.” Trish Bowering reviews the revised and updated edition of The Deerholme Mushroom Cookbook: From Foraging to Feasting (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2024) $40 / 9781771514392
“After cooking and baking Chef Bruno’s recipes from The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook, I can confidently say that my initial instincts were right: I so enjoyed spending time with this book and making the recipes.” Trish Bowering reviews The Bacon, Butter, Bourbon & Chocolate Cookbook: Chef Bruno’s Favourite Ingredients, by Bruno Feldeisen (Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2024) $34.95 / 9781770503335
“This is a fun and informative cookbook that will connect camp cooks to the land. Its compact size encourages novice or experienced adventurers to carry it along on their backcountry trips.” Paul Geddes reviews The Well-Fed Backcountry Adventurer: Easy Trail-tested Campfire Recipes Inspired by 1920s Mountaineers by Bryan Thompson (Toronto: Canadian Expedition Heritage Society, 2024) $7.99 / 9781068946202
“It is the story of her survival expressed through her art, her poetry, and especially through the letters she writes to her grandson telling him stories of where his ancestors came from while hoping for a brighter future for him.” Valerie Green reviews Dear Arlo: letters to my grandson
by Olga Campbell (Vancouver: Jubaji Press, 2024) $21 / 9789981291130)
2024 donors to the British Columbia Review, a thank you from Richard Mackie.
BCR asked some of our regular contributors about books they read in the past year that really stayed with them. “Eclectic” is our word of the year.
“The Deerholme Foraging Cookbook proved to be truly inspiring. This book will appeal to well-established foragers, but also to those, like me, who want to think outside the supermarket norm.” Trish Bowering reviews The Deerholme Foraging Cookbook: Wild Ingredients and Recipes from the Pacific Northwest, revised and updated, by Bill Jones (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2024) $40 / 9781771514378
“These two authors have produced a charming, colourful book that is easy to read and understand for kids of all ages. Children will ‘soon advance from quick after-school snacks and summer picnics to breakfasts in bed and full-course family dinners.'” Valerie Green reviews Let’s Eat: Recipes for Kids Who Cook by DL Acken and Aurelia Louvet (Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2023) $40 / 97817711514132
“All of the recipes I tried were good. I was a bit hesitant about mixing rhubarb into banana bread, but hey! It was rhubarb season, so I thought I’d try it, and my taste-testers all liked it.” Rebecca Coleman reviews The Side Gardener: Recipes & Notes from My Garden, by Rosie Daykin (Toronto: Appetite by Random House, 2024) $45.00 / 9780525612179
“Tatton is a baker to his bones. At sixteen, he began culinary school and never looked back, working in feted restaurants in the UK and gradually honing his bread-making skills. A love of sourdough bread-making caught him early. Several years ago, the couple relocated to BC and while working on Vancouver Island farms, Tatton cultivated his own sourdough starter.” Trish Bowering reviews BReD: Sourdough Loaves, Small Breads, and Other Plant-Based Baking by Ed Tatton, with Natasha Tatton (Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2023) $50.00 / 9780735244443
“Instead of labeling foods, her philosophy is to focus in on the positive: what can you add to your plate/diet that is going to make you feel better, rather than focusing on what you ‘shouldn’t’ eat (which, let’s face it, just makes our brains want it more).” Rebecca Coleman reviews Plant Magic: A Celebration of Plant-Based Cooking for Everyone by Desiree Nielsen (Toronto: Penguin Random House, 2024) $34.00 / 9780735244900
“Those of us lucky enough to live on the west coast have access to ingredients, both wild and prepared, that are expressions of weather, geography, ancient and modern farming techniques, and something else: genius loci, or spirit of place.” Theresa Kishkan reviews The Coastal Forager’s Cookbook (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2023) $40 ISBN 9781771514088 & The Coastal Forager’s Pocket Guide by Chef Robin Kort (Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2023) $10 ISBN 9781771514170
“One thing I really like about this cookbook is that most of the recipes are relatively simple and straightforward.” Rebecca Coleman reviews Chocolate All Day: From Simple to Decadent, 100+ Recipes for Everyone’s Favorite Ingredient by Steven Hodge (Toronto: Appetite by Random House, 2023) $37.50 ISBN 9780525612025
“The Artful Pie Project feels like a pop-star diva: a substantive and respected body of work, beautiful, but high maintenance.” Rebecca Coleman reviews The Artful Pie Project: A Sweet and Savoury Book of Recipes by Denise Marchessault, photographs by Deb Garlick (Vancouver: Whitecap Books, 2022) $39.95 ISBN 9781770503601
“…just don’t expect that your food will look like the photos in the book. And that’s okay.” Rebecca Coleman reviews Fraiche Food, Fuller Hearts: Wholesome Everyday Recipes Made With Love (Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2023) $45.00 / 9780735240780
“Lisa would deliver fresh food to Ella and her brother Barkley at Wickaninnish Community School. Among the lunch time treats were fish tacos and warm polenta fries.” Mary Ann Moore reviews Together at SoBo: More Recipes and Stories from Tofino’s Beloved Restaurant by Lisa Ahier with Susan Musgrave (Toronto: Appetite by Random House, 2023)
$37.50 / 9780525610632
When we launched The British Columbia Review — then The Ormsby Review — in September 2016, little did we expect that seven years later we’d post our 2000th review. I’m grateful to everyone — reviewers, publishers, authors, booksellers, and readers — for making it such a success and promoting BC writers, writing, and culture. It…
Read more No. 2000 for the BC Review!
The Five-Bottle Bar: A Simple Guide to Stylish Cocktails by Jessica Schacht Victoria: Touchwood Editions, 2022 $28.00 / 9781771513760 Reviewed by Rebecca Coleman * Have you been out for drinks lately? At some of my favorite cocktail bars, drinks are now in the $20 to $25 range, and even at chains, you’re looking at between…
Read more 1928 DIY cocktails
How to Clean a Fish and Other Adventures in Portugal by Esmeralda Cabral Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, May 16, 2023 $27.99 / 9781772126556 (paperback) Reviewed by Sheldon Goldfarb * Well, first of all, you won’t learn how to clean a fish. Secondly, … But let’s start at the beginning. Esmeralda Cabral is a writer living…
Read more 1876 A reluctance to join in
Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives: An Island Memoir by Margot Fedoruk Victoria: Heritage House, 2022 $22.95 / 9781772033953 Reviewed by Susan Sanford Blades * Cooking Tips for Desperate Fishwives, Margot Fedoruk’s island memoir, instantly captures her reader’s attention by beginning right in the thick of things: “The night I ran over Rick with my car,…
Read more 1834 Stuck in the middle of nowhere with you