A tasty oral history

In 2018, Janis Thiessen, Kimberley Moore, and collaborator Kent Davies refashioned a used food truck into a mobile oral history lab. Together they embarked on a journey around Manitoba, gathering stories about the province’s food and the people who make, sell, and eat it. Along the way, they visited restaurant owners, beer brewers, grocers, farmers, scholars, and chefs in their kitchens and businesses, online, and on board the food truck. The team conducted nearly seventy interviews and indulged in a bounty of prairie delicacies, from Winnipeg’s “Fat Boys” to Steinbach’s perogies to Churchill’s cloudberry jam.

Thiessen and Moore serve up the results of this research in mmm... Manitoba. Mixing recipes, maps, archival records, biographies, and full-colour photographs with fascinating stories, they showcase the province’s diverse food histories. Through the sharing and preparing of food, the authors investigate food security and regulation, Indigenous foodways and agriculture, capitalism’s impact on the agri-food industry, and the networks between Manitoban food producers and retailers. The book also explores the roles of gender, ethnicity, migration, and colonialism in Manitoba’s food history.

Hop on the Manitoba Food History Truck and journey into the province’s past with engaging essays and easy-to-follow recipes for kjielkje and schmauntfat, snow goose tidbits, chicken karaage, the Salisbury House flapper pie, duck fat smashed potatoes, Ichi Ban cocktails, pork inihaw, and more. mmm... Manitoba offers a thoughtfully nuanced, deliciously digestible, and wholly unique regional history that is sure to satisfy.

Kimberley Moore is Adjunct Professor and Programming and Collections Specialist at the University of Winnipeg Oral History Centre. She holds a Master of Arts in History from Concordia University. She teaches workshops in oral history and related technologies, assists in ongoing oral history projects, and manages the Oral History Centre’s archival collections.

Kimberley Moore's profile page

Janis Thiessen is an associate professor of History and Associate Director of the Oral History Centre at the University of Winnipeg. Her favourite snack food is dill pickle potato chips.

Janis Thiessen's profile page

"Over seven chapters and 300 pages, mmm…Manitoba explores everything from colonialism and migration to gender through the lens of food, with interactive elements available through QR codes and recipes. The book highlights stories about local burger joints, such as Salisbury House and Junior’s; the importance of barbecue among diaspora communities; underground perogy production; and the agricultural history of manomin, or wild rice."

Winnipeg Free Press

"Manitobans hungry to learn more about the origins of some of our most beloved foods are in for a tasty literary treat."

Winnipeg Free Press