2020 James Beard Cookbook Award Nominees announced

Originally slated to be announced in March, the nominees for the 2020 James Beard Awards for cookbooks were revealed today via Twitter. This comes on what would have been the 30th Anniversary James Beard Awards in Chicago. The JBF chose to put the nomination announcement on hold and focus on supporting relief efforts for the restaurant industry. To date, the James Beard Foundation Food and Beverage Industry Relief Fund has disbursed more than $4 million to independent restaurants in the U.S.

In addition to the virtual announcement, the organization will forego a physical ceremony for the 2020 cookbook awards. The JBF will instead announce the winners on May 27, 2020, along with the recipients of the Cookbook Hall of Fame and Cookbook of the Year honors. Restaurant & Chef Award winners are currently scheduled to be announced on Friday, September 25, 2020, from Chicago.

EYB Members will recognize almost every book on this list of nominees, which features many of our favorite authors. The General category pits legends Christopher Kimball (Milk Street: The New Rules) and Molly Stevens (All About Dinner) against industry pro, though cookbook author novice, Carla Lalli Music (Where Cooking Begins). Music is the food editor of Bon Appétit.

The Baking category is another great contest. There, Nicole Rucker (Dappled) battles with Joanne Chang (Pastry Love) and Daniel Leader (Living Bread). Each of those books is fantastic and worthy of the honor. Another contest I’m paying attention to is Single Subject. There, Diana Henry (From the Oven to the Table) competes with Vicky Bennison (Pasta Grannies) and Mark Diacono (Sour). I’m glad I do not have to choose the winner for that category.

Additional interesting match-ups include the International, Vegetable-Focused Cooking, Food Writing, American Cooking, and Health & Special Diets categories. This year there is also a new, separate beverages category for books without recipes. See all of the stellar books vying for honors in each category on our James Beard 2020 page.