23.-BEST CULINARY HISTORY BOOK

Demand for culinary history books is worldwide. Food is now part of culture, and culinary history is very much respected. There is a return to the classics, as well as a focus on special local or regional culinary history. Much has happened in the last thirty years, with many quick changes, and culinary historians try to understand and record the past and the present.

1996 Australia – Jean Paul Bruneteau (Harper Collins)

1997 France – Anthony Rowley (Hachette)

1998 France – J. L. Flandrin, C. Lambert (Imprimerie Nationale)

1999 UK – Alan Davidson (Oxford University Press)

2000 Sweden- Carl Jan Granqvist

 Ingrid Nilsson (Fürgspelet)

2001 UK – Elisabeth Luard (MQP)

2002 UK – Colin Spencer (Grub Street)

2003 Australia – C. Murphy (Wakefield Press)

2004 France – G. Fumey, O. Etxeberria (Autrement)

2005 Europe – Dara Goldstein, Kathrin Merkle (Council of Europe)

BEST IN THE WORLD

April 7, 2007

FINALISTS

1.- CANADA

La Cuisine de la Nouvelle France

50 Recettes d’Hier adaptées au Goût d’aujourdhui par le Maître Coq du Cabaret du Roy

 (Editions de l’Homme-Quebec)

 La Nouvelle France, New France is the very old name of French Canada, with a strong culinary history. Les Editions de L’Homme is one of the 3 best cookbook publishers in Québec.

2.- CHINA

Red Chamber in Liao Cuisine

 Zhang Ben Teng

 Photographer: Yang Yue Xiang

 (Jilin Cultural Technical Press)

The Red Chamber is one of the best-known Chinese literature classics. Here photography also takes a red focus, red being the best colour traditionaly in China.

3.- DENMARK

Mormors Mad

 Retter fra det danske kokken

 Tradition – For Nyelse

 Klavs Styrbaek

 Photo: Evan Fredriksen

 (KLE-Art)

This book is excellent to understand Danish food tradition and its fundamentals. All traditional recipes get a detailed description and a small picture, the renewal of the same gets some notes and comments and big aesthetic photos

4.- FINLAND

Valkokankaan Herkkuja

 Recipes from the Silver Screen

 Jari Keranen

 Timo Malmi

 Illustrations: Jorma Marstio; The Finnish Film Archive

 (Otava)

Film becomes a useful tool for culinary history, and film archives are the source for this book.

5.- FRANCE

Quand les Brasseries se Racontent

Flo, Bofinger, Julien, La Coupole, Le Balzar, Le Boeuf sur le Toit, Le Vaudeville, Le Terminus Nord, L’Excelsior, Les Beaux Arts.

 Textes documentaires par Gilles de Bure

 Nouvelles par Eric Neuhoff

 Front Covers : Patrick Delapiérre

 Design: Bleu T sous la direction de Claude Lebey

 Préface de Jean-Paul Bucher

 (Albin Michel)

Flo is now present outside France, including Beijing, after Barcelona. This book is a delight to read over and over again, with the soul of the brasseries living throughout the book. The texts are brilliant food literature; they capture the spirit of each individual brasserie to perfection.

6.-  GERMANY

Falsches Schmalz und Wiesenwein

 Rosemarie Köhler

 (Buch Verlag für die Frau)

This is a retrospective of the food problem in Germany after the war. The recipes are sometimes funny, often serious, show the resulting ingenuity of people in these times. This time witness could also be useful in schools.

7.- GREECE

The Cuisine of Asia Minor

 Soula Bozi

 (Ellinika Grammata)

Asia Minor was once very important for Greek cuisine, and it has influenced modern Greek cuisine. This book has excellent research, and is quite welcome and useful.

8.- ICELAND

Delicious Iceland

 Tales of Unique Northern Delicacies in English

 Chef Völundur Snær Völundarson

 Text – Haukur Ágústsson

 Photos: Hreinn Hreinsson

 (Salka)

Chef Völundur has been working around the world with the best, always with Iceland in his heart; together with photographer Hreinn he now takes Iceland to your heart.

9.- ISRAEL

Bread: Symbol of Faith, Staff of Life

 (Israeli Museum Products)

This book gives a view of the history of bread around the world, with its symbols and meanings. It is an important book.

10.-ITALY

I Fasti del Banchetto Barocco

 June di Schino

 (Diomeda Centro Studi e Ricerche)

This is a very important book by a great food writer. Much research and experience went into creating this book, which will become a fundamental reference.

11.- JAPAN

Meshi

 Hiroshi Fukuda, Owner Chef of Traditional Restaurant Nabe Ya in Tokyo

 Photographer: Takayoshi Nakanishi

 Art Director: Kazuhiko Tajima

 (Pie Books)

101 Rice recipes of EDO period (1600-1868) – Each rice menu is simple in ingredients and direction but deep in taste, aroma and culture of Japan.

This book is a treasure which should be translated into many languages. In the West, there is now superficial knowledge of a small part of Japanese cookery. This book goes very much deeper, and gives excellent information which is much needed.

12.- NORWAY

Kultur Historisk Kokebok

 Rakefiskk

 By Halvor Heuch, Astri Riddervold

 Photos: Mona Gundersen

Lutefisk, Klippfisk

 By Jahn Otto Johansen

 (Damm)

The Norwegians dare to include Kultur in the title. Fish is a most important part of the fundamentals of culinary history in Norway. This series of books on sea food is a documentation and celebration of the traditions and heritage evolved from the landscape of fjords in Norway.

13.- PERU

Diccionario de Gastronomía

 Peruana Tradicional

 Sergio Zapata Acha

 (Universidad de San Martín de Porres – Peru)

The University in Lima has over 10.000 students. It is the most important publisher of culinary history in Latin America, with a deep understanding of older traditional food cultures as well as of the modern changes in cuisine.

14.- PORTUGAL

Bifes da meia Noite

 Midnight Steaks

 Carlos Consiglieri

 Marilia Abel – Photos de Paulo Valente

 In English and Portuguese

 (Dina Livro)

This is a very Portuguese culinary history story. You have to read the book in English to appreciate it, and you will be glad you did. It is both entertaining, and serious research. It was one of the best surprises among the thousands of books we received this year.

15.- SOUTH AFRICA

To the Banqueting House

 African Cuisine – An Epic Journey

 Anna Trapido and Cuco Fathi Reinarhz

 Photography Theana Calitz

 (Gwynne Conlyn- South Africa)

You have to see chef Samuelsson book (category 1-Chef) and Afrika! (category 21-A  Photography) on the same subject. The culinary history of Africa is very important, and this book is one of those you truly most read this year.

16.- SPAIN-CASTELLANO

Diccionario Gastronómico del Siglo XXI

 Fashion Food

 Julia Pérez – José Carlos Capel

 (El País Aguilar)

If you want to understand how Spain became a leader of innovative cookery in Europe, you have to read this book. Julia Pérez is the most talented writer among her peers in Spain, while José Carlos Capel is a journalist who sets the trends in Spain, “l’arbitre des elegances culinaires”, who understands better than anybody the past, present and future of food in Spain today. He is the food writer at El País, the leading newspaper in Spain, and he is today the leader of food trends in Spain, very soft-spoken, and honest in his judgments.

17.- SPAIN-CATALAN

Corpus de la Cuina Catalana

 Institut Catalá de la Cuina

 (Columna)

This book gives the fundamentals which are the roots of Catalan cuisine. Without them, Catalan cuisine would not have become a world power.

18.- SWEDEN

  Järnspisar, hackekorv & tabberas : mat, smak & tradition i Astrid Lindgrens  värld
Göran Lager

Illustrations: Claes Jurander

Cover & Layout: Christer Jonsson

(Ersatz)

The world famous author of Pippi Longstocking, Astrid Lindgren has in all her books presented food, this is the ultimate introduction to the heritage of Swedish countryside food.

19.- TURKEY

500 Yillik Osmanli Mutfagi – 500 Years of Ottoman Cuisine

 Marianna Yerasimos

 (Boyut – Yayin Grubu)

Also in English

There is a food revolution in Turkey, which will come as a surprise to those who have not seen their cookbooks, which are regularly featured in the Gourmand Awards. Please try to understand the 500 years of cuisine which prepared for the modern burst in Turkey cuisine today.

20.- UK

The Taste of Britain

 Laura Mason and Catherine Brown

 Foreword by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

 (Harper Collins)

There is a long tradition of culinary history in Britain. This book is a great story of the various steps that created British taste. It is acknowledged that the British probably have the best taste in wine. If you read this book, you will understand where that taste comes from.