Just in time for the festive season, a new cookbook has launched in Timmins. ‘Taste of Timmins’ is a 172-page collection of local family recipes and snippets of their history.
The book includes recipes from a variety of local multicultural groups and communities such as First Nations, Métis of Ontario-Timmins, the Ukrainian, Italian, African, Austrian, Latin American, Chinese, Jamaican and French.
“It’s a showcase of our diverse community and it has many multicultural recipes. At the same time, we tie in family and show that connection to the recipe,” said Helen Yaschyshyn, a project member, at the launch.
Ifeoma Kasimanwuna, a local immigration partnership co-ordinator with the Timmins and District Multicultural Centre, said the cookbook is important because it will help bring people of diverse cultures together. “It becomes like a melting pot of cultures so you taste a part of my culture; I taste a part of your culture and in a way we can relate,” Kasimanwuna said.
The book is also comprised of submissions from local organizations, farms and establishments like Borealis Fresh Farms, the Kinette Club of Timmins, Rubber Boot Farm and Aline’s Tea Shop. Community partners involved in the project include Anti-Hunger Coalition, Timmins Multicultural Society, Timmins and District Multicultural Centre, Northern College, Université de Hearst, Newcomers Encouraging Self-Empowerment in Timmins (NEST) and author and historian Diane Armstrong, who’s been the driving force behind the project.
The spiral-bound books are colourful and include anecdotes from those who submitted their recipes. They cost $20 each. In Timmins, the cookbook can be purchased at Alfie’s Cigar Store, Aline’s Tea Shop, Anti-Hunger Coalition Timmins office, Porcupine Dante Club, the Timmins Museum: National Exhibition Centre and Timmins Public Library. In South Porcupine, find the book at Giant Tiger Porcupine, McDonald’s Pharmacy and Porcupine Timber Mart Hardware.
The book will also be available at Holiday Pop-Up shops across the region!
