New Acadian cookbook keeps family recipes alive

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An Acadian from Moncton has taken recipes from kitchens around the Maritimes and New England and preserved them in a new book.

Brian Cormier, who owns Bricor Communications, had started a Facebook group about Acadian poutine râpée 17 years ago, and over time it grew to 20,000 members.

“It was just something a lot of people didn’t know how to make,” he said. 

Through the group, people started asking him to create an Acadian cookbook.

Cormier said over the past few years he has been collecting beloved family recipes that people have pulled out drawers and notebooks, and he complied them into documents on his computer.

With a busy day job, Cormier did not think he would be able to put out a cookbook on his own. He enlisted the help of Angella Cormier of Ancor Creative Solutions to compile the recipes into a book called “Acadian Recipes and More: Volume 1” that was recently published through Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing.

“It just exploded from here,” Cormier said.

There are over 100 recipes in the book including fricot, poutine râpée, molasses cookies, and deserts like pets de sœurs and poutines à trou. Some of the recipes are from well-known Acadian establishments like Marven’s Biscuits and Cy’s Seafood.

“This is me just trying to keep people’s recipes alive,” Cormier said, noting the book is bringing back childhood memories both from people who submitted recipes, and those who have purchased the book.

Cormier said he has fond recollections of his grandmother coming over around Christmas time to make poutine râpée. A picture of his grandmother from the 1950s is featured on the book’s cover.

“it was something that was really connected to holidays and celebrations and family getting together,” he said. “It’s a nostalgic dish.” 

Not long after the book was first published last week it had climbed up to number one Canadian cookbooks on Amazon.ca, passing a cookbook by Mary Berg, TV host and winner of MasterChef Canada. At one point it had also ranked 25th among all books sold on the website.

Cormier said his book sales have been driven through social media and his connections without a costly marketing campaign.

“It’s just the power of self-publishing,” he said.

About 20 per cent of the books sold have been to people in the U.S., particularly in the New England area. He said there is a demand for Acadian cookbooks in English.

“There are a lot of people who don’t speak French anymore but are Acadian and love their culture,” he said.

He plans to put out more cookbooks in the future, including a book of family holiday recipes, and is collecting more recipes to fill another volume.

In addition, Cormier also has a business called Acadistuff, which sells Acadian merchandise like hats, aprons, and mugs with Acadian family names.