Hall of Fame Award (Posthumous) | 2014

In the postwar period, British Columbia-born Mona Brun made a name for herself on the Canadian culinary scene through her cookbooks, radio broadcasts, and television appearances. A celebrity chef of sorts, Brun shared her expertise on CBC Radio and cooking shows like Woodward’s Culinary Capers and her own Creative Home Cooking show. She was also a strong proponent of eating local and worked with British Columbia’s Ministry of Agriculture to write pamphlets promoting the consumption of locally-grown foodstuffs. In 1977, she published Cooking with Mona, a collection of 500 tried and true recipes that could be recreated with ease. Her experiences as a mother and homemaker inspired her to write Cooking with Mona so she could share her knowledge with other women. The cookbook is notable for being published during the era when Canadians were switching from the imperial to metric systems, and it offers assistance with the conversion process.

Brun, Mona. Cooking with Mona. Vancouver: Woodward Stores, 1977. Archival & Special Collections, University of Guelph Library (TX715.6 B796 1977).