Jennifer McLagan and Laura Calder at Pangaea

What was originally planned as an informal lunch at the home of Women's Culinary Network Chair, Nettie Cronish became a full fledged Canadian cookbook publishing powerhouse event. Cronish enlisted friend and ally Alison Fryer to get The Cookbook Store to host a proper cocktail party around the corner from their Yonge street premises at Pangaea. The reason for the June 22 party? To celebrate Toronto's two 2009 James Beard Award winning authors: Jennifer McLagan and Naomi Duguid. In May, Duguid and partner Jeffrey Alford won the 'International' category for Beyond The Great Wall and McLagan's Fat won both the 'Single Subject' category and the ulitmate trophy: 'Cookbook of the Year'. If that weren't enough, both authors also won an International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) cookbook award. The 'International, Cordon Bleu Award' for Beyond The Great Wall and the IACP's 'Single Subject' for Fat. Not bad.

How their accomplishments missed major mainstream media attention was the topic of conversation through the party and speeches. McClelland and Stewart President Doug Pepper, who had to explain to his marketing department their big food book was going to be called "Fat", remarked that if either author had won a Man Booker Prize or an Oscar, they would have had their pictures on the front page of the paper. Pepper also noted that Canadian cookbook authors regularly win awards and sell books well beyond what one would expect for the size of the country. Where, the room collectively wondered, is the Canadian media?

Malcolm Jolley is the editor of Good Food Revelation