So Many Nominees, Such Great Work

Last week the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) sent out their list of nominees for this year's cookbook awards and this morning, at the Beard House (see photo), the nominees for James Beard Awards for journalism, books, chefs and restaurants were announced. 

Since there are way too many nominees for me to list -- and since you can go to the sites and see them for yourself -- I'm just going to say CONGRATULATIONS to all the nominees and tell you who the nominees are in the book category for baking and dessert, since my guess is that's one of the categories that you, like I,  are really interested in. 

There were two books that were nominated by both the IACP and the James Beard Foundation:

• Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads: New Techniques, Extraordinary Flavor, by Peter Reinhart; and
• Pure Dessert, by Alice Medrich

In addition, the IACP nominated:

• Local Breads: Sourdough and Whole-Grain Recipes from Europe's Best Artisan Bakers, by Daniel Leader and Lauren Chattman

And Beard nominated:

• A Baker's Odyssey by Greg Patent

Oh, I can't resist telling you just a little more.  Michael Laiskonis, pastry chef at Le Bernardin in New York, fascinating blogger and last year's James Beard Outstanding Pastry Chef of the Year, was on hand to announce some of the chef nominees.  This year's nominees for Pastry Chef of the Year are:

• Gina DePalma of Babbo, NYC
• Pichet Ong of P*ONG, NYC
• Nicole Plue of Redd, Yountville, CA
• Elisabeth Prueitt and Chad Robertson of Tartine Bakery, San Francisco, CA
• Mindy Segal of HotChocolate in Chicago, IL

Well, as long as I've already done more than I said I would, I'm going to congratulate my bookwriting friends who were nominated (please, please, please, if I've forgotten any of you, I'm sorry in advance).  This is in no logical order, just the way they turn up on the sheets I've got:

• Jean Anderson for A Love Affair with Southern Cooking
• Jacques Pepin for Chez Jacques: Traditions and Rituals of a Cook
• James Peterson for Cooking
• Mark Bittman for How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Quick & Easy Recipes from The New York Times AND his television series, The Best Recipes in the World
• Anne Willan for The Country Cooking of France
• Patricia Wells for Vegetable Harvest
• Molly O'Neill for American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes
• Darra Goldstein for Baking Boot Camp: Five Days of Basic Training at the Culinary Institute of America
• Elizabeth Falkner for Demolition Desserts
• Laura Shapiro for Julia Child

Once again, CONGRATULATIONS!!!! 

Comments

[Allen]

Oh, so much information - I love it! I received my review copy today for Greg Patent's A Baker's Odyssey and I find it an interesting mix of recipes, a snapshot of wonderful immigrant cooking.

[Lemon Tartlet]

Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads is such a wonderfull book, I'm so glad it's been nominated by both! Ain't decided if it's a cook book or a chemistry text book yet, but either way I keep reading it over and over like I'm trying to consume it.

[Maria]

Congratulations to everyone! Such a great year of cookbooks! I will look over the list to make sure I have read them all. Thanks Dorie!