Press release
Discover Toronto’s culinary history during weekend events at six Toronto history museums on November 4 and 5 from noon to 5 p.m. The participating sites will feature free live cooking demonstrations, food and drink samples and special guest presentations.
Canada Cooks, Toronto Eats is part of the City’s MomenTO and TO Canada with Love programs. Free admission to these events is courtesy of Mackenzie Investments.
“These exciting food experiences are a great way to learn about our city’s history,” said Mayor John Tory. “I encourage residents to come out and enjoy our museums this weekend.”
Canada Cooks, Toronto Eats includes events as described below for the six participating sites. A full schedule can be accessed at bit.ly/2xR9sQ0.
Fort York National Historic Site
Ongoing demonstrations and samples will be taken from “The Cook Not Mad” (1831), the first English language cookbook published in Canada. The fort’s historic kitchen will feature derby cakes, broiled chicken, soft gingerbread, apple tarts, beef soup and winter squash pudding. Visitors will also learn about the history of tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
Gibson House Museum
On Saturday afternoon, discussions will explore beer and how its history has been preserved (by Jeffrey M. Pilcher, Professor of Food History at the University of Toronto) and how Boralia’s restaurant owners (Evelyn Wu Morris and Wayne Morris) preserve Aboriginal and immigrant recipes in their cuisine. The museum will host a “soup splash” on Sunday featuring editor and food writer, Amy Rosen, author of Toronto Eats. Rosen will be cooking a soup featured in her book, with free samples available.
Mackenzie House
Visitors to Mackenzie House can taste and learn how Canada’s diverse population has shaped the city’s food culture. Ongoing historic cooking demonstrations and fusion cuisine sampling occur alongside an Indian and Caribbean food demo by Chef Ashvin Gehani of East of York Gourmet Food Co. and a presentation by Canadian Organic Growers’ Tanmayo Krupanszky on organic foods and food sustainability. Visitors will also learn about 19th-century Scottish and Irish recipes and can print a special recipe card on the museum’s 1845 historic press.
Montgomery’s Inn
From the wood fired bread oven to the cast iron bake kettle, the inn explores bread traditions. Activities include Chef Guy Rawlings of Montgomery’s Restaurant presenting a locally sourced bread workshop, author Naomi Duguid presenting a flatbread workshop and the Culinary Historians of Canada and the inn’s historic cooks presenting the “rising history of breads.” Limited guided tastings for cheese (with chef/fromager Martin Raymond) and beer (Great Lakes Brewery) can be reserved by calling the inn in advance.
Scarborough Museum
Museum cooks, local cooks and community youth chefs will all put their cherished family recipes to the test using the museum’s woodstove and open hearth. Historic cooks will also bake a visitor favourite from the 1920s called Mystery Cake. Its secret ingredient leaves everyone amused and amazed.
Todmorden Mills Heritage Site
Visitors can sample recipes from the Second World War era “Recipe Book for Enjoying Canadian Apples, The World’s Finest Fruit” in the restored 1940s cottage and brewery buildings. Featured items will include apple upside-down cake, steamed apple pudding, apple pie with cheese crust and spiced apple juice.
The public can also share their recipes and the stories behind them for an online cookbook, which will be available in 2018. Visit torontoeats150.tumblr.com to browse and submit recipes. People can also share their Canada Cooks, Toronto Eats thoughts and experiences on Twitter at #TorontoEats and #MomenTO150.
Until November 30, general admission to nine museums is free courtesy of Mackenzie Investments, in celebration of its 50th anniversary of doing business in Toronto.
The City of Toronto operates 10 history museums which annually produce over 300 programs and events that are attended by more than 410,000 residents and visitors.
More information is available at toronto.ca/museums. The public can interact on Facebook at facebook.com/tohistoricsites and Twitter @TOHistoricsites.
MomenTO is part of the City’s TO Canada with Love program and is produced in partnership with the Province of Ontario’s Ontario150 Program and the Government of Canada. More information is available at toronto.ca/momento.
Toronto is Canada’s largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world’s most livable cities. In 2017, Toronto is honouring Canada’s 150th birthday with “TO Canada with Love,” a year-long program of celebrations, commemorations and exhibitions. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/TorontoComms and on Instagram at instagram.com/cityofto.
