In addition to winning lifetime achievement awards as a writer and poet, since 2010 Susan Musgrave has been the proprietor of Copper Beech House, a beautiful bed and breakfast that has for decades played host to authors and prime ministers, artists and adventurers who visit the remote archipelago of Haida Gwaii.
In her first cookbook, the famous poet uses her humour and incisive wit to bring cooking and living on the former Queen Charlotte Islands to life with stories gathered over decades. With its evocative tales and wild cuisine, this book offers a unique take on food that could only be developed living off the coast of British Columbia.
More than collecting recipes, Musgrave follows the seasons with guides to gathering the freshest local ingredients for recipes that reflect Canada's wild West Coast. This book is a recommended read for fans of food, good humour and the Pacific Northwest.
Why not include A Taste of Haida Gwaii in your next meal with one of these recipes:
On Haida Gwaii you don't see a lot of "glistening stemware" (you'll see glistening silverware at least at Copper Beech House where it is polished, if not daily, then annually by the tireless Jules) and the only limousine I know of is the one Smokin' Joe has parked in his front yard as a rusted-out garden ornament, but we can assume that all the wild foods we pick, harvest, or catch, though not organically certified, are beyond organic: eating local is the new organic; foraging is the new eating local. Wild foods grow wildly, wherever they choose to put down roots, not where anyone with a wad of pesky certified organic produce stickers says they are allowed to grow. Wild foods defy domestication and won't be tamed.
"There are captivating and fun photos throughout, and stories both personal and universal. There is much to learn from the book, and not just about cooking. I really appreciated having some of Susan's Haida neighbours and friends introduced in photos and stories, and there are many other cultural treasures, such as thirty-four words for salmon in the Haida Language, not to mention all the ways of smoking and preparing salmon."
— BC Studies
Winner of the 2016 Taste Canada Awards in the Regional/Cultural Cookbooks category
Winner of the Bill Duthie Booksellers' Choice Award
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