If you are looking for food and drinks books that go beyond the celebrity/TV tie in, then have a browse through the Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards that took place remotely last week.
The F & M Awards are the replacement for the prestigious Glenfiddich Awards and they recognise the best in food writing and broadcasting. Not only are the winners, works of real scholarship, but so is the short list too.
I have a copy of the Vinegar Cupboard which won the Debut Cookery Book for Angela Clutton. I declare an interest, I know Angela a little as a member of the Guild of Food Writers, I also declare that until this book, I didn’t have a clue how to use all those vinegars in the back of my cupboard.
The award of best Food Book went to Bee Wilson whose The Way We Eat Now is required reading if you are concerned about how and what we eat. I’m a big fan of Fuchsia Dunlop whose knowledge of Chinese food and culture is remarkable, so congratulations to her on winning Best Cookery Book for the Food of Sichuan.
Other highlights include The Amber Light, an evocative film about whisky in Scotland (though only the trailer is available just now) and Miguel Barclay whose £1 meals play on Instagram. I’m delighted too that the charming Matt Tebbutt of BBC’s Saturday Kitchen has won Personality of the Year.