In the long tradition of gathering recipes to celebrate anniversaries, The Ginger Press has assembled a community cookbook with memories and recipes from over 100 contributors in honour of its 40+ year history. With recipes ranging from Zach’s Jalapeño Poppers, to Rogan’s Porcupine Meat Balls, and Miss Macphail’s Cake, The Ginger Press Community Cookbook provides a wide range of traditional and contemporary recipes; most are accompanied with personal stories and variations.

Established in 1978, The Ginger Press is one of the oldest independent bookshops in Canada. They began publishing local books in 1987, and now have more than 100 titles in print. In 1998, The Ginger Press Café was added, serving wholesome food featuring local ingredients and providing a lively, warm place to connect with others.

Although we have not been able to gather around the back table recently, the significance of food, and making food, has remained important. Gathering treasured memories as well as comforting and sustaining family recipes into The Ginger Press Community Cookbook became a COVID project to provide a legacy record of more than 40 years of this vibrant and tenacious downtown Owen Sound business.

According to Elizabeth Ridolfo of the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto, the first Canadian community cookbook, The Home Cook Book of 1877, was one of the best-selling early Canadian titles, and featured recipes from many prominent Toronto families. The Ginger Press Community Cookbook acknowledges over 40 years of feeding minds and bodies in the Owen Sound region.

The Ginger Press Community Cookbook ($25) is available now from The Ginger Press in downtown Owen Sound, as well as online at www.gingerpress.com.