The Gourmand Awards for 2008 have been presented at a ceremony in London, with seven Australian food and wine books receiving prizes, placing Australia ‘in the top 10 countries in the world for food and wine books,' according to the Gourmand judges.

‘Competition was fierce,' the judges said, with thousands of books received from 107 countries.

A Frog in the Billabong (Marie Paule Leroux, Littlefox Press) received the Special Award of the International Jury, with the judges calling it ‘a book with a great sense of humour about 12 years in Tasmania for a French woman, the many faux-pas her husband and her did, the culture shock, the many encounters, the food and wine industry, her business in Gourmet foods Exquisite Flavors. Above all it is a touching and well-written testimony to the love of the author for Tasmania.'

Kylie Kwong's My China: A Feast for all the Senses (Lantern) was named the Best Chinese Cuisine Book in the World. ‘In this Beijing Olympic year, this book deserved a Gold Medal!' said the judges. ‘It is a pleasure to read, the promise of the feast for all senses is delivered through exquisite book production, talented writing, true emotion, and beautiful photography.'

Two books about Australia wine won first and second Best in the World, with books from eight countries competing. Celebrating the success of Australian wine exports to Scandinavia, first place went to a book from Denmark: Vinene Fra Australian (Birthe Jensen, Lindhardt Og Ringhof Forlag). Second place went to the Australian book Good Wines, Bad Language, Great Vineyards: The Wine Characters of Australia (Hayden Wood, photog Esmeralda Wood, Drink Australia)  ‘It offers a refreshing concept for wine books, in the text, language and photos,' the judges said. ‘The down under triumph was complete with third place for the New Zealand wine adventures of an American,' said the judges: First Big Crush (Eric Arnold, Simon and Schuster).

Maggie's Harvest (Maggie Beer, Lantern) won second place in the cover design category against books from 27 other countries.  The Great Aussie Barbie Cookbook (Kim Terakes, Viking) was one of two winners in the Best Barbecue Book in the World category. Richard Maurovic won Bronze for Best Culinary History for The Meat Game: A History of the Gepps Cross Abattoirs and Livestock Markets (Wakefield Press).

Overall, there were 26 books representing Australia, from 13 publishers. The Gourmand Awards received thousands of books for consideration. There were 991 qualified finalists, who are all listed with their cover and contact details in the Gourmand Yearbook 2008 (ISBN 978489131453)

For more information, see the Gourmand Awards website www.cookbookfair.com

This article from Thorpe Bowker's Weekly Book Newsletter and Media Extra is reproduced by kind permission of Thorpe-Bowker, a division of R R Bowker LLC. © Copyright 2008, Thorpe-Bowker

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