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Toronto author and chef Bonny Reichert is among the winners of the 2026 Taste Canada Awards.
The Taste Canada Awards annually celebrate the year’s best in Canadian food writing, awarded across five English-language and five French-language categories. In total, 20 Gold and Silver awards are given out.
The ceremony was hosted by television personality Bob Blumer and comedian and broadcaster Ali Hassan. Hassan is also the host of CBC’s Canada Reads and Laugh Out Loud.
Reichert’s memoir, How to Share an Egg, won gold in the culinary narratives category.
When Toronto-based journalist Reichert turned 40, she quit her job and enrolled in culinary school — a life-changing decision that pushed her to explore her relationship with food in writing. This exploration, along with a critical bowl of borscht in Warsaw, led Reichert to writing her memoir, How to Share an Egg, which dives into how food shapes her history as the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.
Reichert was formerly an editor at Today’s Parent and Chatelaine and has written for the Globe and Mail. She won a National Magazine Award and was on the longlist for the 2020 CBC Short Story Prize. She teaches writing at the University of Toronto.
While Reichert wasn’t at the ceremony to accept the award, her editor, Zoe Maslow, relayed her words on stage.
“I wrote How to Share an Egg because I couldn’t not write it, but the fact that it resonates with others feels magical,” she said. “This recognition means so much to me and to my father, who just passed away a few months ago, who is watching from heaven, caviar tin in front of him, champagne flute in his hand.”
LISTEN | Why storytellers come alive when the topic of food is on the table:
CBC Radio Specials49:00Dishing Up Stories
The complete list of English-language winners is as follows:
Culinary narratives:
Gold: How to Share an Egg by Bonny ReichertSilver: The Lobster Trap by Greg Mercer
General cookbooks:
Gold: The Essential Cottage Cookbook by Andrea BuckettSilver: Arthurs by Raegan Steinberg, Alexander Cohen and Evelyne Eng
Regional/cultural cookbooks:
Gold: My Cypriot Table by Irene MatysSilver: La Cucina di Terroni by Cosimo Mammoliti
Single-subject cookbooks:
Gold: Wood, Fire & Smoke by Michael SmithSilver: Bread etc. Recipes + Techniques for Baking with Sourdough, Yeasted Dough, Pizza Dough + More by Matthew James Duffy
Health, lifestyle or special diet cookbooks:
Gold: Two Chefs in the Garden by Lynn Crawford and Lora KirkSilver: Tahini Baby, Bright, Everyday Recipes That Happen to Be Vegetarian by Eden Grinshpan
The shortlists and winners were chosen by a jury of volunteers from the culinary industry.
Other past winners include Matty Matheson, Suzanne Evans, Mary Berg and Lynn Crawford.