Out of Helen's Kitchen - Madame Benoît

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Published on Saturday, September 23, 2017

By Helen Drysdale
The Neepawa Banner

June 25, 1968 Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau’s Liberal Party wins a majority in the federal election. Trudeau’s popularity was dubbed ‘Trudeaumania.’

In 1969 both English and French were recognized as official languages by the federal government on July 9 through the Official Languages Act, which guaranteed a bilingual civil service.

In 1970, all roads led to Manitoba as it celebrated its Centennial. Everyone was invited to revisit their hometown and celebrate “The spirit of 70”. The prairie province with a seaport warmly welcomed visitors including the Queen, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Charles and Princess Anne. The 1970 Manitoba visit included a tour of Roy Bailey’s farm near Carberry, as well as other points in Manitoba to celebrate the centennial.

In the ‘60s and ‘70s “Madame Benoît,” was on the Canadian cooking scene. She wrote 30 books during her career, including the Encyclopedia of Cooking.  As Canada’s first celebrity chef, she appeared on CBC Television  regularly. Madame Benoît recognized early on the significance of the microwave oven and predicted how important this way of cooking would become in the modern kitchen. She wrote several books on the topic, as well as appearing in television commercials for Panasonic microwaves. Madame Benoît was a pioneer in explaining Canadian cuisine to Canadians, writing “ The Canadiana Cookbook: A Complete Heritage of Canadian Cooking. “I am convinced that good cooking is an art, as well as a form of intense pleasure. This is why, in this book, I tried to infuse Canadian cuisine with the subtleties of this art and pleasure,” she said. She delighted in preparing, tasting and sharing food so with that, here are two of her recipes to try. Bonne appetite.

Butter fried cucumbers

2 Tbsp. butter

2 medium sized cucumbers

1/4 cup flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. curry powder

4 tbsp. chopped parsley

Sour cream

Peel the cucumbers and slice them 1/2 inch. Dry the slices in paper towel for a few minutes. Then shake them in a bag containing the flour, salt and curry. Place the butter in a frying pan and melt it. Add the floured cucumbers, fry about 3 minutes on each side for a golden colour. Do not overcook. Serve as soon as ready, sprinkle with parsley. Serve sour cream on the side. Serves 4.

Tomatoes Provençale

4 large tomatoes

3 Tbsp. oil

1/2 tsp. each salt and pepper

1 Tbsp. sugar

1 clove garlic, crushed

1 Tbsp. parsley, chopped

1 tsp. basil

2 Tbsp. coarse bread crumbs

Halve the tomatoes cross wise and remove seeds by pressing each halve in your hand. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Place tomatoes in oil cut side down, cook over medium heat about 3 minutes. Turn, sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar mixed together. Place garlic in bottom of the pan and cook for another 2 minutes or until tomatoes are tender. Remove tomatoes to a heated service platter, sprinkle with parsley and basil mixed together. Add bread crumbs to fry pan and stir constantly over high heat until golden brown, sprinkle over tomatoes and serve. Serves 8.