Michael Mucz's prolonged primary research into Ukrainian-Canadian folk history culminates in Baba's Kitchen Medicines. This book bursts with the cultural memory of pioneering folk from Canada's prairieland. From fever to frostbite, this incomparable compendium of tinctures, poultices, salves, decoctions, infusions, plasters, and tonics will fascinate and often mortify readers from all walks of life. The comprehensiveness of Mucz's research and interviews framed with deftly painted historical, cultural, and botanical backgrounds guarantee that this chapter of the Canadian story will continue to be told for generations to come. It is a deep, charming, and often moving work of intricate anthropology that will stir scholar and non-specialist alike.

Michael Mucz teaches in the areas of botany and ecology at the University of Alberta`s Augustana Campus in Camrose. His research interests include ethnobotany and herbal medicine.

Michael Mucz's profile page

"From Olena Boriak’s listing of ethnographic research proposals...we learn that Ukrainian folk medicine took root as a field of serious investigation in the second half of the nineteenth century.... Mucz and his Baba’s Kitchen Medicines make an important contribution to this bank of knowledge.... I recommend that you take the time to scan the index, pick your favourite ailment, and check out the remedy. You may be surprised!"

Journal of Canadian Studies 37