These are the big winners of the Cookbook of the Year awards
More than 22,500 votes were cast this year for no fewer than 54 cookbooks in the Cookbook of the Year awards, organized by our colleagues at the culinary platform Food&Friends. It is the biggest cookbook competition in the Netherlands and Belgium, with a professional jury prize and a public prize, open to both Dutch-language and translated cookbooks. These are this year’s big winners:
A six-member professional jury for the independent Cookbook of the Year awards presented several prizes. In addition to a professional jury prize and a public prize for the best cookbook, an award was also presented to designers and photographers, who are indispensable to cookbooks.
Best Cookbook of the Year photography and design
The award for best photography went to photographer Charlotte Bland for La vita è dolce (published by Becht). Thijs Koelemeijer, designer of De bakatlas, written by Heel Holland Bakt winner Rutger van den Broek (Carrera culinair), received the Best Cookbook of the Year Designer Award 2022. In De bakatlas, Rutger shows you how diverse baking is in different countries and how you can do it yourself at home. Even make Bossche bollen, for example.
Public favorite Cookbook of the Year
Nick Toet was already a public favorite with his 172,000 Koken met Nick YouTube subscribers, but now he is one with his cookbook too. Eten met Nick (Carrera culinair) is packed with easy recipes. Forget all those difficult instructions and just cook deliciously the way it should be; without fuss and to your own taste. It should hit that one spot that makes you say, ‘oh my God, I’ve never eaten so deliciously before’. Because that is what Nick loves making most: food for your soul. Make his Broodje beschuitstuitah (The Hague-style meatball sandwich) and you’ll understand what we mean.
Professional jury prize Cookbook of the Year
Java by Maureen Tan, who previously wrote the successful book ‘De Bijbel van de Indonesische Keuken’, has been named the 2022 professional jury winner. The book, once again published by Carrera culinair, is a culinary journey through Java featuring beautiful dishes from all regions of Java, organized by area. The professional jury said of the book: “By focusing on one area, readers are given not only familiar recipes but also new or familiar recipes with a twist of their own. The cookbook also offers a wonderful glimpse into the culture of Java through appealing photographs and extensive background information. The author felt the urgency among many Indonesian people to share their stories and food culture, which she did by capturing them in a cookbook.”
Honorable mention
The professional jury believes that Altijd zondag by Wil Demandt (yes, publisher Carrera culinair deserves an award here too!) deserves an honorable mention. It is more than a cookbook, after all. It is a culinary biography, a historical document and the closing of an era. Wil Demandt is a household name in the culinary world who must not be forgotten. Partly thanks to his Limburg roots, he is a master of exceptionally delicious Burgundian dishes. In Altijd zondag, he has compiled his most delicious recipes, such as this Pêche Melba.
Read also:
- IZAKAYA has been Amsterdam’s hotspot for extravagant Japanese dishes and exciting cocktails for ten years
- Top chef Erwin Oudijk cooks amazing dishes over an open fire at restaurant Current in Den Bosch
- Restaurant BlueBlood in The Hague has a new Nikkei chef and we’re fans
