For the past 19 years, Taste Canada has promoted Canadian culinary writing by recognizing the best of the year with the Taste Canada Awards. As a cookbook lover and a proud Canadian, I think it’s so important for us to support the wonderful writing talent we have in this country.

I was honoured to be invited to attend the Awards on November 14 at the Arcadian Court in Toronto as a Blogger Ambassador/Special Correspondent. To be able to spend an evening with cookbook authors, chefs, culinary writers and publishers, bloggers and food lovers was definitely a great experience for me.

Before the Awards Ceremony began, I spent some time covering the red carpet and spotted more than a few of my favourite Canadian cookbook authors.

Mairlyn Smith at the 2016 Taste Canada Awards	Linda Gaylard at the 2016 Taste Canada Awards
Barry Parsons and his family at the 2016 Taste Canada Awards	Aimee Wimbush-Bourque at the 2016 Taste Canada Awards

The Awards Ceremony itself, hosted by CBC radio personality Mary Ito, was a lot of fun and the pace was lively. The acceptance speeches (when the winners made them) were short and sweet. You can check out the full list of the 2016 Taste Canada Award recipients and some photos of the winners here.

After the Awards were all handed out, the party moved upstairs to the chef’s stations. There were some stunning dishes being served – I managed to try most of them and everything was absolutely amazing. Being a food blogger, you know I had to take a lot of photos of the food!

I forget the name of this dish but Chef Matt Basile of Fidel Gastro’s always delivers yummy eats!

Chef Ted Reader of Ted’s BBQ and his team can always be depended on to bring lots of meat!

How gorgeous are these chocolates by Sandra Abballe, Chocolatier/Owner of Succulent Chocolates?

Mini Porchetta Sandwiches with Pickled Cabbage & Carrots and Housemade Mustard by Chef Graeme Little of EPIC, Fairmont Royal York Hotel

Morel Mushroom Arancini by Chef Dan Craig, SOCO Kitchen + Bar, Delta Toronto Hotel

Mini Pavlova with Whipped Cream and Fresh Fruit by Bonnie Gordon Culinary College

Pan Roasted Duck & Ontario Pear Bread Pudding by Chef Michael Robertson, O&B Arcadian Court

Mini Chai Mousse Bombes by Bonnie Gordon Culinary College

Congratulations again to all of this year’s Taste Canada Awards nominees and winners! And a special thank you to Crave PR and the Taste Canada Awards for allowing me to join the fun as a Special Correspondent. I can’t wait until next year’s event. In the meantime, there are a lot of cookbooks for me to go check out!

For more information about the Taste Canada Awards, please visit their website or follow them on Twitter.