"The Female Emigrant's Guide is a blueprint for survival in the backwoods of 19th-century Upper Canada. But most of all, it's a cookbook. ..[Cooke and Lucas's] study of Traill's world provides the context and resources necessary to unlock the Guide and other historical cookbooks. " The National Post

“Much more than a simple reprinting of Traill’s guide, [Catharine Parr Traill’s The Female Emigrant’s Guide: Cooking with a Canadian Classic] it is a glimpse into nineteenth-century culinary history in Canada. As such, after the original guide, the authors added a 250-page “Guide to Traill’s World,” in which they explore what Traill typically fed her family, what three sample families of different financial means would normally eat, and the history of cooking measurements. They also modernized certain recipes (mostly breads, biscuits, and puddings), listed modern ingredients readers can use, and explained how to convert the other recipes. A fascinating read for anybody interested in Canadian domestic history and cooking. ” Montreal Review of Books

"This book contains so much lovely, evocative detail. It gives the reader a glimpse into the sensory world of the nineteenth-century kitchen while also highlighting the seemingly unending labour that went into feeding one’s family. It is an impressive, unique, and essential work of Canadian culinary history. " Ian Mosby, author of Food Will Win the War: The Politics, Culture, and Science of Food on Canada's Home Front