June 23, 2020 (Toronto, ON): Penguin Random House Canada is proud to announce a partnership with the Fox Family to mark the 40th anniversary of the Marathon of Hope, beginning with the publication this summer of new books from two of its imprints with a portion of proceeds going to The Terry Fox Foundation to support cancer research.
On June 10, we at Penguin Random House Canada released the first steps in our anti-racism action and accountability plan. In that plan, we’d pledged to share details on June 22 about our efforts to make our company a safer space for BIPOC, LGBTQ2+, disabled, and other marginalized employees, and by June 30 to provide more information about the makeup of our company and our publishing, and about our ongoing social impact work.
If you like your ribs extra saucy, remove them from the grill when they’re ready, baste them one last time with the barbecue sauce, then throw them back on the grill to make them nice and sticky.
Okonomiyaki is a type of Japanese savoury pancake that can be made with a variety of ingredients. In Japan, it is made in every household, and it is totally addictive. Ria Cipes is from Japan and loves to make okonomiyaki for her family. She creates a special heart-healthy version for Stephen (note below). Summerhill executive winery chef Jeremy Luypen helped create this delicious base recipe.
This recipe makes four medium-size portions or two large. If you are a beginner, divide the batter into four, and don’t worry if your first one isn’t perfect! You will get the hang of it.
Pears and chocolate? Yes, please! Teshia Marven (daughter of Forbidden Fruit’s owners) is the baker in the family, and she created this beautiful cake, which is a favourite of her daughter, Porter Amour. It just keeps getting better a day or two after you make it—if it lasts that long!
These little donuts are well known in the Venice area of Italy, where Loretta Zanatta’s family roots lie. Frittelle are traditionally prepared for the annual Carnival extravaganza in February. Leading up to and during Carnival in Venice, you will find these bites of delight everywhere. At home, Loretta continues the tradition of making these treats the way her mother taught her for family celebrations.
Musakhan is the hugely popular national dish of Palestine. Growing up, Sami ate it once a week, pulling a piece of chicken and sandwiching it between a piece of pita or flatbread. It’s a dish to eat with your hands and with your friends, served from one pot or plate, for everyone to then tear at some of the bread and spoon on the chicken and topping for themselves.
Traditionally, musakhan was made around the olive oil pressing season in October or November to celebrate (and gauge the quality of) the freshly pressed oil. The taboon bread would be cooked in a hot taboon oven lined with smooth round stones, to create small craters in the bread in which the meat juices, onion, and olive oil all happily pool. Musakhan is cooked year-round, nowadays, layered with store-bought taboon or pita bread, and is a dish to suit all occasions—easy and comforting enough to be the perfect weeknight supper as it is, but also special enough to stand alongside other dishes at a feast.
Playing around: The chicken can be replaced with thick slices of roasted eggplant or chunky cauliflower florets, if you like (or a mixture of both), for a vegetarian alternative. If you do this, toss the slices or florets in the oil and spices, as you do the chicken, and roast at 425°F for about 25 minutes for the cauliflower and about 35 minutes for the eggplant.
For this one, you take just about any pepper you find at the market, sweet or hot— shishitos, Jimmy Nardellos (my favorite), Fresnos, sweet Hungarian wax, or cayenne— toss ’em with olive oil and salt, and grill ’em on a hot grill or sear them in a hot pan. The peppers turn into these little time bombs that fill up with this hot pepper juice that bleeds out— when you carefully cut into them after cooking, hence time bombs— and mixes with the brininess of the pickled feta and makes what’s essentially nature’s vinaigrette.
Black Lives Matter. That’s indisputable, and fundamental. The current protests against anti-Black racism and white supremacy represent the potential for a watershed moment in history. They are urgent and necessary, and we at Penguin Random House Canada support them unequivocally.
We acknowledge this response has taken some time, which we’ve used to reflect and consult with our Black and otherwise racialized colleagues and authors to ensure our response represented a meaningful commitment to action and accountability.