THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, April 20, 1995 TAG: 9504190021
SECTION: FLAVOR PAGE: F1 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: Morsels
SOURCE: Ruth Fantasia
LENGTH: Long : 104 lines
MARTHA STEWART wants one. Jane Brody wants one. Marcel Desaulniers has one, and he'd like another.
And if you've ever made a cookbook recipe that didn't work, you'll want to know who has them.
They're James Beard cookbook awards. And they're given out annually for excellence in cookbook writing, design and effectiveness.
Stewart, author of ``Martha Stewart's Menus for Entertaining''; Brody, who wrote ``Jane Brody's Good Seafood Book''; and Desaulniers, author of ``The Burger Meisters'' and co-owner and executive chef at the Trellis restaurant in Williamsburg are among this year's 36 nominees.
The awards, which will be announced in New York May 8, bring recognition and ``make it easier to pitch the next book to a publisher,'' admits Desaulniers, who won in 1993 for his ``Death by Chocolate: The Art of a Consuming Passion.''
Though there is no monetary prize and it's difficult to measure the effect the award has on sales, Desaulniers says a James Beard Award can add to a book's longevity and increase sales over time.
Besides, he says, ``It makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside. It makes you feel good professionally and personally; it means something to you.''
Which to buy?
But the reasons for buying an award-winning cookbook are different.
Hundreds of cookbooks are published annually, some good and some not-so-good.
Honors such as the James Beard and the International Association of Culinary Professionals awards give us one measure for deciding which books to purchase. And they aren't based on sales figures.
Joe Crea, food editor of the Toledo Blade and chairman of the James Beard Cookbook Awards committee, says a call for entries is placed in trade magazines each fall. Any original book published in English during the previous year can be submitted and is categorized and sent to the judges.
``The politics that go behind the scenes can be meddlesome,'' Crea says. ``We emphasize that anyone can enter. Our attitude is that we never want to be accused of excluding. A book will rise or fall of its own volition or value.''
Picking the best
Once the entries are received, Crea's committee of 12 culinary and food-writing professionals divide the books into categories. This year there are 310 entries in 12 categories, Crea says.
Though fairly stable, the categories can change from year to year. For instance, there may not be enough Italian cookbooks to justify their own category, but, combined with other cookbooks, they could make up a Mediterranean cuisine category, Crea says.
``There are four judges from various culinary backgrounds for each category,'' Crea says. ``We seek people with expertise in the various categories but they may not have been associated in any way with any of the books entered.''
After Christmas, the entries are shipped to the judges, who narrow the field to each of his or her five favorites. Each judge selects two representative recipes from each of the top five books, to test as they appear in the book. Then the judges fill out their ballots and send them to an independent accounting firm in New York for tallying, Crea says.
In March, the top three books in each category, based on the judges' combined scores, are nominated.
``There are sleepers and surprises every year,'' Crea says. ``What I'd like to believe happens is that even though there's a trendiness, every book that wins its category is a book that is timeless, engaging and worth its dollar years from now.'' ILLUSTRATION: BELOW: "Burger Meisters" is one of 36 books nominated for a
James Beard award this year.
DANA GALLAGHER
Hostess extraordinaire Martha Stewart was nominated for ``Martha
Stewart's Menus for Entertaining.''
TOP-NOTCH COOKING
Here's a list of books that have won Cookbook of the Year at the
James Beard awards. Specialty categories are not listed.
1993 - ``Madhur Jaffrey's A Taste of the Far East'' by Madhur
Jaffrey (Carol Southern).
1992 - ``The Splendid Table: Recipes from Emillia Romagna, The
Heartland of Northern Italian Food'' by Lynn Rossetto Kaspar
(William Morrow).
1991 - ``Sauces: Classical and Contemporary Sauce Making'' by
James Peterson (Van Ostrand Reinhold).
1990 - ``Cocolat: Extraordinary Chocolate Desserts'' by Alice
Medrich (Warner Books).
1989 - ``The Foods of Vietnam'' by Nicole Routhier (Stewart,
Tabori & Chang).
1988 - ``The Cake Bible'' by Rose Levy Beranbaum (William
Morrow).
1987 - ``The Art of Indian Vegetarian Cooking'' by Yamuna Devi
(Dutton).
1986 - ``Roger Verge's Entertaining in the French Style (Stewart,
Tabori & Chang).
1985 - ``Glorious American Food'' by Christopher Idone (Random
House).
1984 - ``Giuliano Bugialli's Foods of Italy'' by Giuliano
Bugialli (Stewart, Tabori & Chang).
by CNB