IACP Cookbook Awards Celebrates 25 Years; "Culinary Classics" to be Honored for the First Time

ATLANTA, May 5, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) celebrates the 25th year of its Cookbook Awards with the announcement of the 2011 winners June 2 in Austin, Texas, at its Awards Gala during its Annual Conference. More than 500 entries were submitted with 52 books in 17 categories selected as finalists via a rigorous two-tiered judging system by independent panels of food and beverage experts.  

Since 1986, more than 350 books written by more than 300 authors have won the coveted Cookbook Awards. The stringent judging procedure has made the IACP Cookbook Awards the industry's most reputable acknowledgement of excellence in cookbook publishing. The list of authors whose books have received IACP Awards reads like a "Who's Who" of the culinary world and includes the likes of Flo Braker, Dorie Greenspan, Rick Bayless, Jacques Pepin, Patricia Wells, Barbara Kafka, Thomas Keller, Deborah Madison and Julia Child, to name a few.

In honor of its 25th year, IACP will begin acknowledging "Culinary Classics," works that have become true classics in the field. A panel of judges chose 10 books as finalists; each has significantly altered the way food is thought about and contributed in a meaningful way to the field of culinary literature. The five inaugural Culinary Classics winners will be announced at the Awards Gala. The 10 nominees are:

• "American Heritage Cookbook" American Heritage Publishing

• "A Book of Mediterranean Food" Elizabeth David 

• "The Classic Italian Cook Book"  Marcella Hazan

• "Delights and Prejudices" James Beard 

• "The Gastronomical Me" M.F.K. Fisher 

• "Joy of Cooking" (1975 edition) Irma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Becker

• "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (2 volumes) Julia Child, Simone Beck, Louisette Bertholle

• "On Food and Cooking" Harold McGee 

• "Oxford Companion to Food"  Alan Davidson  

• "Paul Prudhomme's Louisiana Kitchen"  Paul Prudhomme 

In addition to its Awards Gala on June 2nd, IACP will celebrate cookbook authors at its annual Culinary Book Fair, held June 3, 2011, 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. at the Hilton Austin Hotel. Books will be available for purchase and authors can sign and personalize your copies.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.iacp.com or call (404) 252-3663.

SOURCE International Association of Culinary Professionals