County Heirlooms cookbook

Culinary skills of County cooks at the focus

For the past six weeks, Ruth Gangbar’s dining room has been pressed into service as a photography studio. The subjects at the focus of the lens have been the culinary creations of over 40 County cooks and chefs, and almost all of the food has been prepared in the adjacent kitchen by Ruth or by the creator of the recipe. This project comes through the inspiration of Natalie (Nat) Wollenberg, who with her husband, Drew, owns the County Canteen and 555 Brewing Company in Picton. “I love cookbooks. In fact, I have a small addiction to them,” said Nat. “I meet a lot of people in the business that we’re in, and they had all these stories about how they were involved with food and where they get their passion from. One day I texted Barbara Burns Sweet at Books & Company and asked ‘How do people publish a book?’ She replied ‘Ring this number and speak to Leigh Nash.’” Leigh is the publisher for Invisible Publishing, an independent book company based in Picton. The project began to take shape last May, and then the busy summer season arrived putting things on hold for a while. As the season wound down, Nat restarted the cookbook project. She interviewed prospective contributors and, as an accomplished photographer herself, took portraits of them. The next steps were the recipe testing and food photography, and this is where Ruth came in. She is an in-demand food stylist, and her work can be seen in many publications, including the LCBO’s Food & Drink magazine. “Ruth is the kind of person I’ve been wanting to work with,” said Nat. “I’ve seen her food photography and she works absolute magic.”

(L-R): Elliot Reynolds of Bloomfield Public House holds his dish of smokehouse ham and aged cheddar, with cookbook creator Nat Wollenberg and food stylist Ruth Gangbar.

The recipe contributors come from all walks of life. There are chefs such as Lili Sullivan and Michael Potters, food growers including Vicki Emlaw and Ed Taylor, recipes from Walt’s Sugar Shack and Quinta do Conde, as well as Wellington’s Enid Grace. All of the recipes were kitchen-tested by either Ruth or Nat, and they made some minor changes to clarify the method or the correct the ingredient list and make it accessible to almost any skill level. “We want the origin and the personality of the contributor to remain intact,” said Ruth. “This is not your average cookbook. It’s not just pretty pictures to look at. We want the recipes to be userfriendly and we want them to succeed for people in their home kitchens.” While some chefs brought their food dish fully made and ready to be plated, a number of others actually made the food in Ruth’s kitchen in preparation for the food photography. Having the studio set up in her dining room was a definite advantage, as she has an astonishing array of props to choose from. Whether it be the type of surface the food is served on, the background, the linens or the tableware, Ruth most likely had it in her inventory. In addition, Dawn Middleton from Ye11ow provided plates that were used in many of the final photographs. Making a food item look fresh and appetizing in a photograph takes an incredible amount of skill, and Ruth takes care in every detail, whether it be condensation forming on a cold wineglass, the style and placement of cutlery, the type of garnish used, or the hint of aromatic steam wafting off a bowl of hot stew. “It’s part of the job of a food stylist to be accountable for how the food looks on the plate.”

With recipe testing and photography complete, the cookbook is now in the editing stage. The layout will be somewhat different from a typical cookbook. Nat recorded her interviews with the contributors, and those will be transcribed and printed together with a portrait, which will accompany the recipe and photographs of the completed dish. This book is a new venture for Invisible Publishing. “We had done Don’t Honk Twice last summer and there was such a great reception to that, so another County-focused book was an obvious ‘yes’. This is our first cookbook and our first full-colour book that we’re printing,” said Leigh. “The book may look slightly different from others in Invisible’s catalog, but the spirit will be the same.”

Royalties from the sale of the book will be donated to Food to Share, and this was a significant motivating factor for Nat. “Food security is a pretty big topic at the moment,” said Nat. “I’ve had a couple of times in my live where I’ve lived on cereal—you do what you can. My heart really goes out to the people who do not have food security, who have children or have family and don’t have access to food like I do. I want to do my bit and be able to help. I believe Food to Share does a phenomenal job. These volunteers are so dedicated and they need to be applauded.” She has devoted a lot of her time and energy to make this project move forward, which is an extraordinary accomplishment considering she is the mother of two young children and she runs two hospitality businesses. “Natalie is such a dynamo,” said Ruth. “She’s done so much of this work herself, from making the initial point of contact, to photographing the contributors to chasing down the recipes. When Natalie approached me with her amazing energy to contribute a recipe and a story, I was really honoured.” The County Heirlooms cookbook is expected to be released at the end of June, at a price of $27.95.