Editor's Introduction to Cuizine: The Journal of Canadian Food Cultures, Issue 3:2

Abstract

Sometimes change comes about because of creative innovation, like the addition of foie gras to the iconic staple of Quebec cuisine, poutine, which has become one of Martin Picard’s signature dishes at Au Pied de Cochon. Catherine Turgeon-Gouin’s article on Picard's restaurant and gastronomic project addresses the way Picard is telling the story of a regional cuisine that is nothing short of mythmaking. Food gives us pleasure, brings us together in ways of which we are not always entirely conscious; and food's potential to bring intense pleasure finds moving expression here in Phedra Deonarine’s “Pelau.” But sometimes food choices are entirely conscious, directed by the head rather than the heart, in ways glimpsed in Kate Hargreaves’ witty poem, “Paper Ladder.” At other times, however, change in food practices is not a question of choice at all—as when food allergies loom large, as they increasingly do on the contemporary landscape. Sue Elmslie’s poem reminds us of one powerful motivator: that food can and should be feared as well as enjoyed.