Lindsay Anderson - Feast: Recipes and Stories from a Canadian Road Trip

O h, how I love a road trip! And, better yet, a Canadian road trip. But Lindsay and Dana have taken this concept one step further: a few years ago, they set out on the ultimate edible road trip across all of Canada.

When I first heard about these two young, talented, and adventurous food writers who were about to explore the country, and celebrate food and all that is Canadian, I immediately knew that I had to meet them one day to hear all the stories of their many adventures.

But keeping in mind that Lindsay and Dana may not have the chance to meet the entire country and regale them with their tales, they have done the next best thing: they have written a book that is a road map of their journeytheir dream come true. I have learned a great deal from their stories, and from the people they met along the way.

Our Canadian food culture is rich, diverse, and remarkable, and in Feast, youll find the history, tradition, and storytelling to match. As you turn the pages, you will be instantly transported to the ten provinces and three territories that Lindsay and Dana visited, each so unique and brilliant. They have captured the beauty of this magnificent country through their photographs and words. In this book, we get to celebrate Canadian food alongside Lindsay, Dana, and their friendschefs, food producers, farmers, First Nations elders, grandmothers and many more wonderful Canadians who have shared their recipes with us. And these recipes are so good that Ive decided I want to cook them all.

I have such respect for all of our Canadian farmers, fishermen, ranchers, and growers who work across this entire country and give us incredible products to cook with and enjoy. And I have such respect for these two women who have shared their sense of humour, knowledge, and passion for Canadian cuisine. This is one amazing road trip, and an amazing book! I love this beautiful country so much, but if I ever forget, Feast will be an excellent reminder.

Chef Lynn Crawford

W e have been asked, time and time again, why we decided to do a road trip and write about Canadian food culture. Our answers are always a little vague, and thats because we cant remember exactly how it all started. We think the first conversation began during a camping trip in Squamish, British Columbia, while eating chips and lounging on a fallen log in the riverthe kind of moment when dreams get tossed around. On that trip, we spoke of the ways in which our lives would soon be open-ended; contracts were finishing, leases were up, and it seemed that by the next summer, wed be poised for adventure. Over the next few weeks, those initial musings of Wouldnt it be interesting if? transitioned to Why not? Why not plan a trip across the country and see what it is, exactly, that Canadians eat?

Of course, there were plenty of reasons not to, money being the biggest, but that didnt stop us from researching. We simultaneously became obsessed with and terrified of our potential project, quickly realizing how enormous an undertaking it would be. How would we manage to get to all 10 provinces and 3 territories? How would we pay for it? And perhaps most importantly, would anybody even care enough to read about it? Crazy as it was, the idea stuck. Discussions continued, we found the courage to purchase our domain, www.edibleroadtrip.com, and that was it. Wed now invested a whopping $20 in this thing, and you cant just throw that kind of money away!

With a name and a yet-to-be-constructed website, we were committed, thus initiating hundreds of hours of planning, all fuelled by endless cups of tea and bars of dark chocolate. We researched routes, funding options, cookstoves, campgrounds, restaurants, farmers, brewers, distillers, fishers, website templates, Twitter handles, gas prices, Indiegogo videos, and more. After months spent researching, writing proposals, emailing contacts, and fundraising, our departure date neared and we were left feeling nervous that we were two overly ambitious idiots.

Ultimately, we decided this: If we fundraised and still had only enough money to get from British Columbia to Saskatchewan, that would be fine. Wed just work for a while and live life on the prairies. If we got ourselves to Newfoundland and ran out of money again, that would be fine, too. Wed work in St. Johns and get to know George Street. That was the upside of being young and mortgage-free; we could figure it out as we went. Idiots have such freedom!