Dorothy Duncan,
Feasting and Fasting: Canada’s Heritage Celebrations
Dundurn Press, 2010.

Rating: E

This book is a delight to read - an historical account of Canada’s early days told through the lens of celebrations, ceremonies, and the foods prepared for them. The chapters are arranged as a cycle through the year, beginning with New Year’s Day, and ending with Christmas. This is a story of the immigrants who came to Canada, and the traditions and ceremonies they brought with them, whether Christian, Jewish, Scottish, or Irish, and how they adapted them to their new home. It’s also the story of how these holidays and occasions became a part of the Canadian story. More than just examining the traditions that came to Canada, Duncan also explores the pagan roots of many of these ceremonies, and explains how they changed over time to become the occasions we’re familiar with now. The book also includes illustrations, a Bibliography, Index and Endnotes.

Along with the historical narrative of the roots of these events, both in the "old country" and how they were adapted to Canada, there are also recipes, some illustrations, and bits of trivia throughout. Food and the ceremony associated with serving it at holidays is an interesting way to look at the multicultural nature of Canada, even at its inception. Duncan notes at the beginning of the book that First Nations traditions have been recounted in many other volumes, and deserve their own analysis: this book focuses on immigrants to Canada and their traditions, from Confederation to around 1950. The history is well-researched and cited, and interesting to read in sequence, or pick and choose, looking only at specific holidays. If you’ve ever wondered why we celebrate Mother’s Day, why pancakes are eaten on Shrove Tuesday, or what a traditional Thanksgiving feast would have included in each province in the early twentieth century, you should read this book. Suitable for youth, but potentially more interesting to adults, this book offers a unique lens on Canadian history.

Thematic Links: Canada - History; Food Habits - Canada; Holiday Cooking - Canada

Jaclyn McLean
Vol. 16, number 5
June 2011

*Rating System:
E - Excellent, enduring, everyone should see it!
G - Good, even great at times, generally useful!
A - Average, all right, has its applications.
P - Problematic, puzzling, poorly presented.