IACP Cookbook Award finalists announced

With the JBF Awards being cancelled this year and other awards already announced, there is only one major cookbook award program left: The IACP Cookbook Awards. Earlier today the IACP announced the finalists for its 2021 awards, with the winners to be revealed at the IACP Conference on October 23, in Birmingham, Alabama. In addition to the cookbook awards, the IACP also announced finalists for its media awards, which include food blogs, online video series, best Instagram account, and more.

You can see all of the nominees for the cookbook awards on our IACP 2021 Awards page, but we will share a few highlights here. In the American category there are a few books that might have slipped under your radar, including Fix It with Food by Michael Symon and Douglas Trattner; The Phoenicia Diner Cookbook by Mike Cioffi, Chris Bradley and Sara B. Franklin; and Mosquito Supper Club by Melissa Martin. I had not paid much attention to those volumes but will give them a second look.

In the Baking category, EYB Members will most assuredly recognize the finalists – we have featured or will feature these books in the EYB Cookbook Club, and they are all fantastic. Nominees include Baking at the 20th Century Cafe by Michelle Polzine, Dessert Person by Claire Saffitz, and Snacking Cakes by Yossy Arefi. All are worthy contenders. The Culinary Travel category also includes some heavy hitters, with Beyond the North Wind by Darra Goldstein competing against Chaat by Maneet Chauhan and Jody Eddy, and In Bibi’s Kitchen by Hawa Hassan and Julia Turshen.

The contest for best General cookbook should be titled the Battle of the Flavors. It pits Yotam Ottolenghi, who surprisingly has not won an IACP award since Jerusalem took home top honors in 2013, and his latest, Flavor (Flavour outside of US & CA), against The Flavor Equation by Nik Sharma and Meat Illustrated by America’s Test Kitchen. This is one to watch. Sharma is also competing against Ottolenghi ‘family’ members in Food Photography & Styling, which features The Flavor Equation vying for honors with Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley and Open Kitchen by Susan Spungen. Head over to our IACP 2021 Awards page to see the complete list of finalists.