Here's the list of Food Writing Resources so far...

The reason I tend to wait to hand-out the ever-useful list of all those great essential food writing books, websites and magazines, is that the list usually doubles with suggestions from in-class.

So, here's the list I started. There are some more additions to be made given our discussion from yesterday. Please feel free to suggest others we may have missed. On Wednesday I'll finish the final compilation and send it to The Writing Works to photocopy for us. I'll bring the copies next Saturday. Some of the links are active. I'll make them all live by the end of the day. (I forgot that I promised to help my husband with some stuff first thing this morning! Ooops.)

Jennifer

Eat Your Words 2008: Resource Sheet

Essential Resources:
• The New Food Lover's Companion, 4th edition (2007), Sharon Tyler Herbst, $15, softcover. Barron’s Educational Series.

• The New Wine Lover’s Companion, 2nd edition (2003), Ron Herbst and Sharon Tyler Herbst, $15, softcover. Barron’s Educational Series.

• The New Food Lover’s Tiptionary: More Than 6,000 Food and Drink Tips, Secrets, Shortcuts, and Other Things Cookbooks Never Tell You, Sharon Tyler Herbst, $26, softcover (2002). William Morrow Publishing.

• The Recipe Writer’s Handbook: revised and expanded, Barbara Gibbs Ostmann and Jane L. Baker, $20, softcover. John Wiley and Sons, 2001.

• Will Write for Food: The Complete Guide to Writing Cookbooks, Restaurant Reviews, Articles, Memoir, Fiction and More…, Dianne Jacob, $21.50. Marlowe and Company, 2005.

• A good English language dictionary such as the Canadian Oxford Dictionary. Ask the editor / publication for whom / for which you are writing for the name(s) of the dictionary and or style guide he or she / it adheres to.

Organizations
• Periodic Writers Association of Canada for information on current freelance markets to copyright info and ready-made writing contracts. If you qualify, you may consider joining. The membership fee for an individual is $240 / year.
PWAC’s sister site is a searchable database for PWAC-member writers and lists current pay rates for freelance writers.

• Canadian Authors Association / Alberta branch . Benefits: monthly meetings, newsletters, the national CAA conference, mentoring and professional development opportunities. Annual fees $157.50 / year for individual members or a $50 student fee.

• The Writer’s Guild of Alberta . Benefits: Bi-monthly magazine, manuscript reading services, support information, networking, workshops and retreats. Membership is $60 per year or $30 for students and seniors.

• Cuisine Canada a national association of food professionals (writers included). Annual cookbook awards and food media awards. $39.90 annual dues.

• The International Association of Culinary Professionals a US-based association of culinary professionals. Benefits: the big annual conference every year, many major publication editors and publishers are members; IACP cookbook and writing awards (non-members can submit entries) and general food news. Dues: $270, ($220 annual dues, plus $50 initiation fee).

• James Beard House insider’s access to the New York food scene and James Beard Awards.

• Slow Food began in Italy but has gone worldwide. Their manifesto states that "A firm defense of quiet material pleasure is the only way to oppose the universal folly of Fast Life" and is committed to protecting regional cuisines, artisanal food products and indigenous food sources. For information on the Edmonton chapter, contact Mary Bailey at 431-1802 / .

• Introduce yourself to local tourism organizations / tourism representatives. They can help you generate story ideas and find contacts for stories. For instance, Travel Alberta / In Province sends out regular bulletins of up-coming press trips in Alberta and story ideas.

Good food & drink reading:
• Best Food Writing 2007, edited by Holly Hughes, published by Marlowe and Company, $16, softcover. (annual series)

• On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen, 2nd edition 2004), Harold McGee, published by Harper Collins, now in softcover.

• Becoming a Chef, Culinary Artistry and Dining Out, Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page, Wiley and Sons, $41.95, softcover. Great resources on North American food and restaurant culture.

• City Palate magazines , in both Edmonton and Calgary. Published 6 times per year. Free pickups or available by subscription.

• City Food magazine West Coast and Pacific NW foodie periodical, published 5 times per year. Free pickup or avail by subscription.

• The Edible Prairie Journal magazine (www.edibleprairie.ca), avail by subscription. Food Arts magazine (available at Hub Cigar and Front Page downtown) for cutting edge restaurant trends and news. (Especially the December issue each year.)

• Food & Wine magazine, , for hot trends and the current food writing style of first person singular, present tense, widely available.

• Saveur magazine, , for food trends but more of the literary element of food writing.

• Gastronomica magazine, . Literary food and drink writing. The tag line is: “The pleasures and aesthetics of food combined with the latest in food studies, food, culture, and society.”

• Wine Spectator for wine education and good food writing, especially restaurant reviews; widely available.

• The New Yorker magazine for good food writing, trends, people profiles. Every September, the New Yorker publishes a “food issue.”

• Air Canada’s EnRoute magazine publishes a very successful Annual Food Issue every November <>

• Cook’s Illustrated for investigative recipe writing, www.cooksillustrated.com

• Food writers living and dead you may want to read: Jeffrey Steingarten, Anthony Bourdain, Bill Buford, Adam Gopnik, Malcolm Gladwell, MFK Fisher, Elizabeth David, Laurie Colwin, Margaret Visser, Harold McGee, Michael Pollan, Ruth Reichl…

Online Food Sites of Note
Local Sites

• www.supperinstereo.com
• www.foodiesuz.wordpress.com
• www.dinnerwithjulie.com
• www.attheroot.ca
• http://curiouscook.net/
• www.edibleprairie.ca
• www.foodgirl.ca
• www.tastereport.com
• www.gremolata.com
• thelocavore.ca
  

Food Message Boards, News & Trend-spotting
• www.chowhound.com
• www.eGullet.com
• www.slashfood.com/
• www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/food_and_drink/





Food Writers and Good Foodwriting On-line
• www.diannej.com
• http://men.style.com/gq/blogs/alanrichman/
• www.curiouscook.com
• www.newyorker.com/arts/food/index





Professional Development:
• The Symposium for Professional Food Writers, a Professional food writers and editors only, limited to 90 attendees, May 11 to 15, 2009, for more info go to www.greenbrier.com/site/foodwriters.aspx

• Any good writing course, especially ones that focus on developing essay writing skills for those who wish to write for newspapers and magazines.

• Enter writing competitions, nominate your writing for awards.

Welcome Eat Your Words 2008 Participants!

Wow, what a great group again. I thought that maybe last year's group of talented, interested foodies was just beginners luck.

Anyway, welcome again. I hope you enjoyed Day 1 today. It's a long day to sit and learn, but everyone did well. The chocolate and cookies helped too, right?

So tomorrow I'll post a few of the lists, website and other material that I said I would. I'll do that early in the morning so you "morning people" can start looking through them. But right now, it's a beer and supper for me:)

This is a forum for all current and past participants for Eat Your Words. It's a way to stay in touch and post questions. Any one of us can post, which also means that if you have advice, news, answers to the posted questions or just general food observations that you need a home for, you can use this site. You'll need a Google / Blogger ID to post or reply to anything. It's free and quick to set up. If you have any questions how to do that, just email me and I'll walk you through the process.

Cheers all!

Jennifer

Maisonneuve's winter issue

Hey all!

Don't know if any of you read Canadian mag Maisonneuve -- if you don't, I'd urge you to. The quality of the writing is great and the articles are always refreshingly quirky (in my humble opinion).

The most recent issue has a food theme, and features a number of great food memoir pieces. I thought many of you might enjoy it. Much of the content is online:

http://maisonneuve.org/



-- Cait

Best Books for Cooks for 2007

This was an interesting podcast from the Bon Appetit / Gourmet website. I hadn't heard of several of their picks for the best cookbooks and food books, so I thought I'd post it here. Anyone read any of these?

Click here to go to the list of Bon Appetit's best books for 2007.

Canadian Culinary Book Awards Winners Announced

Here are some inspiring reads (and good Christmas gifts too).
Posted by Jennifer

November 2, 2007 - (GUELPH, ON) Some of Canada’s top food professionals spent their summer at their stoves testing recipes and evaluating culinary books from more than 50 entrants and now Cuisine Canada and the University of Guelph are proud to announce the winners of the 10 th annual Canadian Culinary Book Awards.

Winners in the English Cookbook Category are:

• Gold: Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala (Douglas & McIntyre Ltd., Vancouver)

• Silver: Lucy’s Kitchen: Signature Recipes and Culinary Secrets by Lucy Waverman (Random House Canada, Toronto)

Winners in the English Special Interest Category, books about food, but not cookbooks, are:

• Gold: Bitter Chocolate: Investigating the Dark Side of the World’s Most Seductive Sweet by Carol Off (Random House Canada, Toronto)
• Silver: Red, White, and Drunk All Over: a Wine Soaked Journey from Grape to Glass by Natalie Maclean (Doubleday Canada, Toronto)

Winners for the English Canadian Food Culture Category, books that best illustrate Canada’s rich culinary heritage and food culture are:

• Gold: Canadians at Table: Food, Fellowship, and Folklore: A Culinary History of Canada by Dorothy Duncan (Dundurn Press, Toronto)
• Silver: Hearth and Home: Women and the Art of Open Hearth Cooking by Fiona Lucas (James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers, Toronto)

The contest was also open to Canadian French-language culinary books.

Winners in the French Cookbook Category are:

• Gold: Á table en famille: recettes et stratégies pour relever le défi by Marie Breton and Isabelle Emond (Flammarion Québec, Montreal)

• Silver: Nutrition gourmande: propos et recettes by Isabelle Huot and Thierry Daraize (Les Éditions Publistar, Outremont, Quebec)

Winners in the French Special Interest Category, books about food, but not cookbooks, are:

• Gold: Couleur champagne by Chrystine Brouillet and Guénaël Revel (Flammarion Québec, Montreal)

• Silver: Cuisiner avec les aliments contre le cancer by Richard Béliveau and Denis Gingras (Éditions du Trécarré, Outremont, Quebec)

The Winner for the French Canadian Food Culture Category, books that best illustrate Canada’s rich culinary heritage and food culture is:

• Gold: Au Pied de Cochon:L’Album by Martin Picard (Restaurant Au Pied De Cochon, Montreal)

Cuisine Canada is a national alliance of Canadian culinary professionals who share a common desire to encourage the development, use and recognition of fine Canadian food and beverages. The University of Guelph has for more than 140 years contributed to Canadian cuisine in its programs in agriculture, food science, hospitality and tourism management and is the home of one of Canada’s best cookbook collections.

The Canadian Culinary Book awards are sponsored by: Lead Sponsor: Delta Chelsea Hotel, Platinum Sponsors: CanolaInfo, Chicken Farmers of Canada and Harbinger Communications. The award’s ceremony and reception is supported by: Beef Information Centre, Dairy Farmers of Canada, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, George Brown College, Inniskillin, Liaison College and Sleeman Breweries Ltd.

For more information or to arrange an interview, please contact:

Sofia Hondrogiannis, Harbinger Communications

(416) – 960 – 5100 x 248

Sofie@Harbingerideas.com

Book recommendation

Hi everybody,

I hope that things are going well for everybody in the food writing world!

Me, being the food history buff that I am, have found a fantastic book that some of you may be interested in having a look at. It's called "Food: The History of Taste". It's edited by Paul Freedman and published by the University of California Press. I found it at the U of A bookstore. It's a collection of essays written by food history scholars. Each chapter focuses on a different period of time: it runs the gamut from the hunter-gatherers of pre-history up to the molecular cuisine movement of the 1990's.

One of the interesting points of the book is the exploration of the sweet/savoury dichotomy. (I believe that it was JoLynn who was interested in this?) As it turns out, there was traditionally no distinction between the two before the mid-seventeenth century. During the medieval and Renaissance times, sugar was such an expensive and rare commodity that it was added to absolutely everything, including things that we would think of now as inherently savory, like stews, soups, and even roast meats. The distinction between sweet and savoury really took off when sugar cane began to be imported from the Carribean in mass quantities. As the author puts it, "...one of the odder consequences... was that sweetness was increasingly relegated to fewer dishes, although a much greater amount of sugar was now used in those dishes that were thought of as 'sweet' ".

Happy reading!

Lisa

Word of the Year: Locavore!

The Oxford American Dictionary just announced its pick for the word of the year...and it's a food word. This info may come in handy for any of you (and me) pitching a story about "eating locally." You can read the whole story at http://blog.oup.com/2007/11/locavore/.

--Jennifer