Limited Demographic: Canadian citizens who are permanent residents of Canada

Speculative writing, whatever the sub-genre, is full of food scenes. Food can be integral to the magic, the meetings, the processes of narratives from hard SF to high fantasy. For all of us, eating is a symbolic and magical act, a transformation, a covenant, a ritual, a comfort, and a necessity, and this awareness has been expressed in story – all the way from myth, legend and fairy tale to modern speculative writing – in many memorable ways. Alice eats and drinks to participate in Wonderland, Ripley's alien has to feed its young, Persephone eats the pomegranate seeds and spends half her life in the Underworld, the witch entices Hansel and Gretel with food to become food, the food in 2001's famous white room is spookily nutritious and generic, and Soylent Green is people.
We can’t live without food, but sometimes we can’t live with it, either. In literature and in history, food-themed stories have had a darker side: starvation, poisonings (whether intentional or accidental), struggles with eating disorders, and more. We’re all drawn to candy coatings (in this case, literally) but we also want the story about how the missing ingredient ruined the feast.
For the Food of my People anthology, its award-winning editors seek speculative writing that makes the magic and reality of food and nourishment integral to each story and its outcome.
See the story "The Food of My People" by Candas that sparked this anthology, and began as an enquiry into what might be the everyday magic of the post-aboriginal incomers to the Canadian prairies, the culture of the jellied salad and the Saskatoon pie. Ursula Pflug and Colleen Anderson chose it for Playground of Lost Toys (Exile Editions, 2015), and when Candas read the story at ICFA she and Ursula were enthusiastic with how many people stayed after to share stories of their food and heritage – including recipes! ... and the idea for The Food of My People: the anthology, was born.

Please include a recipe with your story! We do hope to see actual family recipes from all over the world, but also welcome fantastical recipes with imaginary ingredients – or both! In Laura Esquivel's Like Water for Chocolate, the recipes and plot lines are interwoven, and this is what will delight us most. Don’t booby-trap your recipes with nasty tastes or ingredients, and fantasy recipes must be clearly unattainable.
Note: The publisher intends to launch this book in Toronto (and follow in other locations), with a special food-related event, so authors will be selected to participate/read and their dishes will be professionally prepared and served.