The writer Lindy Mechefske talks about her new book Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventures on the Camino de Santiago (Goose Lane Editions, 2024), with Joseph Planta.

Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventurers on the Camino de Santiago by Lindy Mechefske (Goose Lane Editions, 2024). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: Walk, Eat, Repeat

Text of the introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, British Columbia, at TheCommentary.ca.

Lindy Mechefske joins me again. She’s just published a new book, Walk, Eat, Repeat: Culinary Adventures on the Camino de Santiago. From the Pyrenees to the ancient city of Santiago de Compostela, we’re taken alongside Lindy’s arduous and adventurous hike through Northern Spain. For a lot of people it’s a pilgrimage, sometimes rooted in faith, but for Lindy it was a chance to get away from life, clear her thoughts, and adjust to change in her life, while undertaking this walk, seeing the sights and savouring the cuisine along the way. But the book is more than just Lindy walking and eating, and repeating. As you go through this path, there’s the walking element, which then and now can be viewed by some pilgrims as penance. By night fall, you can stay at various lodgings along the way, from five-star hotels to hostels, to everything in between. We see as illustrated in the book, what the experience is like with friends or alone, surrounded by travellers from all over the world, all with various goals in mind. I’ll ask Lindy about what it was like encountering various people, and of course, ask her about all manner of food she had along the way. It’s a tasty journey, and there’s a recipe after each chapter that sort of sums up the sort of specialities that Ms. Mechefske had. I’ll also get her to reflect on the walk itself, as she’s somebody who’s hiked and climbed the Alps, Appalachians, and England’s Lake District and Peak District. Lindy Mechefske is the author of four previous books on food and culture, two of which have won Taste Canada Gold Awards. She was previously on the program in 2015 when her book Sir John’s Table: The Culinary Life and Times of Canada’s First Prime Minister was published. That book, along with this new one is from Goose Lane Editions. We spoke two weeks ago, with Lindy joining me from Kingston, Ontario. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Lindy Mechefske; Ms. Mechefske, good morning.

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