Nourish Nanaimo is available at a pair of local stores, with proceeds going towards a Nanaimo community agency helping bolster food preparation skills. (Image Credit: Submitted photo)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

locally sourced

‘A teaching tool:’ new Nanaimo cookbook bolstering culinary skills

Feb 15, 2026 | 9:00 AM

NANAIMO — Tried and true recipes from local kitchens are on offer through a local grassroots organization.

Nanaimo Community Kitchens has created ‘Nourish Nanaimo: A Community Cookbook & Local Food Guide’, which features 100 recipes they’ve tested with different groups throughout the region, and are designed to be easy to follow and highlight local ingredients.

Executive director and cookbook co-author Heidi Sinclair said it’s very much about the basics and aimed at people just getting into preparing their own meals.

“We really wanted to look at a combination of nutrition and flavour and how the two build off of each other, so if you understand flavour profiles of nutritious ingredients, you can really create delicious meals without having a lot of extra sodium or needing to add extra fat or anything like that.”

Sinclair said it’s a “hands-on teaching tool” which encourages readers to explore different cooking techniques, seasonal eating opportunities and more.

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It also coaches cooks through substituting ingredients by covering different plant families, enabling people to swap out different parts of a dish to create something new, or based on availability and budget.

Sinclair said every recipe has been cooked locally through their year-round classes and programming.

“Because we are cooking very often in small groups, in social housing buildings or in recovery houses, in classrooms with kids, we’re just testing these recipes constantly. We’re learning what techniques to use to teach people so the cookbook is really a teaching tool.”

It’s available for purchase at Maison Cookware & Bakeware on Metral Dr., or the Old City Cheese and Market on Fitzwilliam St.

Proceeds from the book will support the organization with its programming, which includes cooking programs for families, newcomers to the region and children in the school system.

The organization also works with those in social housing to build their skills in the kitchen.

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