Food & Wine

The cookbook sisters

Virgina Lee and Elaine Elliot are Nova Scotian sisters stirring up the publishing world with their many cookbooks


“We were married for five years when he asked me where the pots were. No, he doesn’t venture there,” she manages to explain. It might be just as well given the elbow-room that a thoroughly tested cookbook requires. And while Virginia’s kitchen may be deep down south, her heart is in Bluenose country where she was born and grew up with her sister and co-author, Elaine Elliot (pictured below).

It has been 24 years since she and Elaine—avid cooks and travelers—used a Royal typewriter for their very first cookbook. For years, the two lived near to each other in Kentville where they worked together on the early editions of the now simmered-to-perfection Maritime Flavours available in its sixth edition. Since then, over 100,000 copies of their cookbook titles—more than 20 in all—have been sold.

Since moving to Tennessee in 1997 when Mel accepted a position there, Virginia has kept in close contact with her sister by phone and the Internet. They see each other fairly frequently, including when Virginia returns to her cottage in the Annapolis Valley for several weeks each year.

The idea to write cookbooks first came to them while on a skiing trip in New England where they stayed at a few of the magnificent inns for which that corner of America is known.

“Maritimers have the ingredients to make the best chowder in the world,
but it so often served as thick as wallpaper paste,” laments Elaine.


The inns and chefs the two have written about since then were relatively easy to track down, she notes. “We have a good nose for that, I guess.” Besides including places the two have come upon in their travels, they ask local newspapers for recommendations, surf the ‘net and, of course, rely on friends and family. And, just like any truth-seeking restaurant reviewer, they always enjoy a meal first without announcing who they are and what they are up to.

All in all, says Elaine, it makes for a great life, especially since the two accept the reality of the hard work and deadlines that are intrinsic to publishing.

It has also brought them a privileged insider’s view of what’s going on in some of Canada’s renowned kitchens, and a chance to explore indepth the ingredients that are part of this country’s culture and history.

The two have turned out books either together or separately that focus on everything from pumpkins, peaches, pears, plums and pasta to salmon, strawberries and salads, cranberries, maple and more, including, of course, one devoted to Nova Scotia’s beloved blueberry. The blueberry—now recognized as a super health promoter—happens to be one of Virginia’s favorite ingredients.

“Blueberry Ballerina! You have to make Blueberry Ballerina!” she urges. The spectacular meringue, blueberry and whipped cream confection is a specialty at Inn on the Cove and Spa in Saint John, N.B. Tastetesting luscious foods, notes Elaine, isn’t as threatening to the waistline as it sounds. “I used to fear I’d gain five pounds per book, but after 23 books I’m about the same size as I started. We test all the recipes, but we do not eat all the food.”

Besides, who said life as a food writer is always wine and roses?

“Maritimers have the ingredients to make the best chowder in the world, but it so often served as thick as wallpaper paste,” laments Elaine. “We have an abundance of garden-fresh vegetables in the summer and fresh ones from the south in winter, but why, oh why, do some restaurants serve canned peas and carrots?” (Recipes to help remedy such faults can be found in a number of their titles, including “Chowders, Bisques and Soups” and “Summer Vegetables”).


“They look good, don’t they?” adds Elaine, “thanks also to those who do the food styling.”

The books are designed and published by Formac Publishing in Halifax. Formac Publisher James Lorimer calls the two “Nova Scotia’s leading cookbook authors”.

And to think it all started in Fall River, N.S. in a home were Elaine and Virginia’s mother, a homemaker, and father instilled in them a love for good food served in loving surroundings.

“Mother was the chief cook; father had a garden. She wasn’t adventurous—father was a meat and potatoes man—but she was a really good Nova Scotia home cook,” says Virginia.

Born eight years apart, the two Stuart sisters enjoyed cooking as kids, but because of the age difference they rarely did so together. Each has at least one vivid memory from those days.

“I must have been quite young when I got this thing about making jelly rolls. I used to make them a lot,” laughs Virginia.

As for Elaine, “Shamefully, I remember waiting for Mum and Dad to go somewhere and trying to make donuts. Think of the fire potential!”

Recalling their own culinary curiosity, they made a point to be patient when their offspring dabbled in the kitchen. Virginia likes to think it played a hand in turning her son, David—a commercial diver—and daughters Elizabeth and Kate into “really great chefs.”

Recently, Elizabeth captured an array of prizes including Chef of the Year in St. Martin and overall winner at Moet and Chandon Chef de Concors. As for Kate, “she likes to joke how a Nova Scotian beat the New Englanders at the Newport Boat Show Chowder Competition.”

So what’s up next for the two ‘cookbook sisters’ who have helped put Canadian cuisine on the map? Formac’s James Lorimer say, “They’re working on new projects with a book coming this fall on tomatoes as well as new editions of their regional cookbooks next spring.” Our tastebuds await. •

Originally published in the Spring 2007 issue of Lifestyle Nova Scotia Magazine.