Awards 2014 Winners

The winners of the Guild of Food Writers 2014 Awards were announced on Thursday 5 June. The Awards, judged by Guild members, celebrate excellence in the field of food writing and broadcasting.

 

From left to right: Jake Lea-Wilson and Adam Scott from the Fish Fight Campaign and television series

From left to right: Jake Lea-Wilson and Adam Scott from the Fish Fight Campaign and television series

 

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and The Food Programme both did the double, picking up two Awards each. Hugh won the Evelyn Rose Award for Cookery Journalist, with Nikki Duffy, for work in The Guardian’s Weekend magazine, and the Derek Cooper Award for Campaigning and Investigative Food Writing for his Fish Fight Campaign and television series.

 

Nikki Duffy

Nikki Duffy

 

The Food Programme won both the Kate Whiteman Award for Work on Food and Travel for an edition on US Southern Cooking and the Miriam Polunin Award for Work on Healthy Eating for an edition on Sugar.

 

From left to right: Dan Saladino and Richard Johnson from BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme

From left to right: Dan Saladino and Richard Johnson from BBC Radio 4's The Food Programme

 

Other winners included both the well-known such as Heston Blumenthal and new voices such as James Morton and Mary-Anne Boermans (both graduates of The Great British Bake Off).

 

James Morton

James Morton

 

The Guild’s top accolade, the Lifetime Achievement Award, went to Jill Norman, who created the Penguin Cookery Library in the 1960s and 1970s, for her incalculable contribution to culinary publishing.

 

Jill Norman

Jill Norman

 

Guild President Xanthe Clay commented: ‘An Award from the Guild of Food Writers is the pinnacle of professional achievement, recognising and celebrating the best in food writing and broadcasting. The Awards ceremony was thronged with the great and the good in the field, as well as top editors, publishers, and television and radio producers, all buzzing with excitement. Congratulations to all the winners and shortlistees.’

 

This year's sponsors added their voices to the praise for our Award winners.

 

Henry Chevallier Guild, Aspall said: ‘Many congratulations to Heston Blumenthal and Pascal Cariss from everyone at Aspall for winning this prestigious award for Work on British Food. The shortlisted writers all demonstrate the strength and vibrancy of food writing in the UK and the British food scene. With Aspall’s heritage of producing cyder and vinegar in Suffolk for nearly 300 years we’re delighted to support British food writing.’

 

From left to right: Henry Chevallier Guild and Pascal Cariss

From left to right: Henry Chevallier Guild and Pascal Cariss

 

Melissa Dickinson, Bacofoil said: ‘We are delighted to present the Miriam Polunin Award for Work on Healthy Eating to The Food Programme. Bacofoil is a British brand with a heritage stretching back over fifty years and during this time we have witnessed many changes in eating trends. Today the most important one is healthy eating. Everyone should eat a healthy diet and we’re 100% behind this.’

 

Dan Saladino and Melissa Dickinson

Dan Saladino and Melissa Dickinson

 

Andy Macdonald, Tenderstem® said: ‘Our wholehearted congratulations go to delicious. magazine for winning what is an exceptionally high-calibre category. The publications shortlisted have all been successful in standing out from the crowd through their clear devotion to and knowledge of food. Filled with sparkling editorial and impactful design and photography delicious is a must-read and a worthy winner.’

 

From left to right: Stuart Cox (Sakata Seeds/Tenderstem®) and from delicious. magazine Jocelyn Bowerman, Rebecca Smith, Hugh Thompson, Susan Low and Karen Barnes

From left to right: Stuart Cox (Sakata Seeds/Tenderstem®) and from delicious. magazine Jocelyn Bowerman, Rebecca Smith, Hugh Thompson, Susan Low and Karen Barnes

 

Virginia Secretary of Agriculture Todd Haymore said: ‘Congratulations to all the award winners! You have helped spread the word about eating and preparing quality food from quality ingredients. Virginia Wine producers believe in the same quality, and I hope you enjoyed celebrating with our wines at the Awards Party.’

The winners were presented with beautiful engraved glass trophies and a prize of £500, in a ceremony in the Wolfson Theatre at the Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regent's Park, London NW1 4LE.

 

2014 Award Winners

Restaurant Reviewer of the Year Award

 

Zoe Williams

Zoe Williams

 

Winner: Zoe Williams for work published in The Sunday Telegraph’s Stella magazine

The other shortlistees were:

Tom Parker Bowles for work published in The Mail on Sunday’s Event magazine

Emma Sturgess for work published in Metro

 

New Media Award

 

Ben Ebrell from Sorted Food

Ben Ebrell from Sorted Food

 

Winner: sortedfood.com by Sorted Food

The other shortlistees were:

Jamie’s Recipe App (Jamie Oliver Ltd)

 

Miriam Polunin Award for Work on Healthy Eating
(Sponsored by Bacofoil)

Winner: The Food Programme: Sugar: Pure, White and Deadly? presented by Sheila Dillon and produced by Dan Saladino (BBC Radio 4)

The other shortlistees were:

Amazing Grains by Ghillie James (Kyle Books)

Angela Nilsen for work published in BBC Good Food magazine

 

Michael Smith Award for Work on British Food
(Sponsored by Aspall)

Winner: Historic Heston by Heston Blumenthal with Pascal Cariss (Bloomsbury Publishing)

The other shortlistees were:

Proper Pub Food by Tom Kerridge (Absolute Press)

Roast by Marcus Verberne (Absolute Press)

 

Kate Whiteman Award for Work on Food and Travel

Winner: The Food Programme: US Southern Cooking and Chef Sean Brock presented by Richard Johnson and produced by Dan Saladino (BBC Radio 4)

The other shortlistees were:

Kevin Gould for work published in Jamie magazine

Wendell Steavenson for work published in Prospect magazine

 

Jeremy Round Award for Best First Book

 

Mary-Anne Boermans

Mary-Anne Boermans

 

Winner: Great British Bakes by Mary-Anne Boermans (Square Peg)

The other shortlistees were:

The Ethicurean Cookbook by Jack Adair Bevan, Paûla Zarate, Matthew Pennington and Iain Pennington (Ebury Press)

Ceviche by Martin Morales (Weidenfeld & Nicolson)

 

Food Magazine or Section of the Year Award
(Sponsored by Tenderstem®)

Winner: delicious. magazine

The other shortlistees were:

The Guardian: Cook

Jamie magazine

 

Food Journalist of the Year Award

 

Tim Hayward

Tim Hayward

 

Winner: Tim Hayward for work published in the FT Weekend magazine

The other shortlistees were:

Christopher Hirst for work published in The Independent and The Daily Telegraph

Susan Low for work published in delicious. magazine

 

Food Broadcast of the Year Award

 

From left to right: Stephen Bulfield, Linda Sills, Diane Martin, Chris Rogers, Antony Dore and Guy Lynn

From left to right: Stephen Bulfield, Linda Sills, Diane Martin, Chris Rogers, Antony Dore and Guy Lynn

 

Winner: Our World: Coffee's Cruel Secret produced and presented by Chris Rogers and produced by Guy Lynn (BBC News)

The other shortlistees were:

Can Eating Insects Save the World? presented by Stefan Gates and produced and directed by Kari Lia (Plum Pictures for BBC Four)

Ottolenghi's Mediterranean Island Feast presented by Yotam Ottolenghi and produced and directed by James Nutt (KEO Films for More4)

 

Food Book of the Year Award

 

Doug Young from Random House accepting the award on behalf of Anya von Bremzen

Doug Young from Random House accepting the award on behalf of Anya von Bremzen

 

Winner: Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen (Doubleday)

The other shortlistees were:

Historic Heston by Heston Blumenthal with Pascal Cariss (Bloomsbury Publishing)

The Breakfast Bible by Seb Emina (Bloomsbury Publishing)

 

Food Blog of the Year Award

 

Emma Gardner

Emma Gardner

 

Winner: Poires au Chocolat (www.poiresauchocolat.net) by Emma Gardner

The other shortlistees were:

philipdundas.com by Philip Dundas

The Skint Foodie (www.theskintfoodie.com) by the Skint Foodie

 

Evelyn Rose Award for Cookery Journalist of the Year

Winner: Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall with Nikki Duffy for work published in The Guardian Weekend magazine

The other shortlistees were:

Caroline Barty for work published in House & Garden

Yotam Ottolenghi for work published in The Guardian Weekend magazine

 

Derek Cooper Award for Campaigning and Investigative Food Writing

Winner: www.fishfight.net and Hugh’s Fish Fight presented by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and produced and directed by Will Anderson (KEO Films for Channel 4)

The other shortlistees were:

Fat Chance: The Bitter Truth About Sugar by Dr Robert Lustig (4th Estate)

Alex Renton for work published in The Observer, The Guardian and The Times

Our World: Coffee's Cruel Secret produced and presented by Chris Rogers and produced by Guy Lynn (BBC News)

 

Cookery Book of the Year Award

Winner: Brilliant Bread by James Morton (Ebury Press)

The other shortlistees were:

Pitt Cue Co: The Cookbook by Tom Adams, Jamie Berger, Simon Anderson and Richard H Turner (Mitchell Beazley)

The Gentle Art of Preserving by Katie & Giancarlo Caldesi (Kyle Books)

Smashing Plates by Maria Elia (Kyle Books)

 

Lifetime Achievement Award

Jill Norman

 

 

All photographs by Charlotte Medlicott

 

Awards Party 2014

Guild member Aggie MacKenzie, broadcaster and columnist for delicious. magazine, was the presenter at this year's Guild of Food Writers Awards, the UK's biggest food book, writing and media awards.

 

The 2014 Awards party was held on Thursday 5 June at the Royal College of Physicians, 11 St Andrews Place, Regent's Park, London NW1 4LE.

 

The Awards ceremony took place in the Wolfson Theatre, compered by broadcaster, writer and Guild member Bill Buckley.

 

Sponsors

Aspall
(Sponsor of the Michael Smith Award for Work on British Food)

Aspall logo

Our family cyder-making business was established in 1728 by Clement Chevallier from Jersey. He planted the orchards at Aspall Hall in Suffolk and imported a granite wheel from the Isles de Chaussée off the Normandy coast to crush the apples.

The Chevallier family still live and work among Clement’s orchards and today Aspall is run by the eighth generation of the family, Barry and Henry Chevallier Guild. Aspall is the tenth oldest family businesses in the UK.

Generations of Chevalliers used Clement’s method of pressing until 1947, when the last horse pulling the wheel around the trough passed away. Although our production has moved with the times, our cyder is still pressed, fermented and blended and bottled on site in Suffolk to the same exacting standards set by Clement nearly 300 years ago.

Today our very British world-class cyders, cyder vinegars and apple juice enjoy increasingly global acclaim for quality and excellence.

We’re delighted to support the Guild of Food Writers Michael Smith Award for Work on British Food.

You can find out more about Aspall at www.aspall.co.uk; on Twitter @aspall; on Facebook: AspallUK; by email: info@aspall.co.uk; by telephone: 01728 860510.

 

Bacofoil
(Sponsor of the Miriam Polunin Award for Work on Healthy Eating)

Bacofoil logo

We are excited and proud to be sponsoring this year’s Healthy Eating category at the Guild of Food Writer’s Awards. Why? Because as well as helping generations cook delicious food, we also appreciate the importance of a healthy and balanced diet and go out of our way to develop products which make life easier.

We are the UK’s only producer of non-stick foil, which helps both chefs and home cooks create great tasting dishes without the need for butter or oil.

But we don’t just make foil. Since 1962, the cooks in our kitchens have been creating a range of versatile products that deliver the strength you can trust. Our products use the latest technology so you can enjoy grilling, baking, roasting, steaming or marinating delicious food with no hassle. Our products are here to work for you, whenever you need them. We’ve even created a range of recipes and tips to give you that helping hand in the kitchen.

We’re proud to be British, proud of our heritage, and appreciate the opportunity to celebrate British food writing and broadcasting with the Guild of Food Writers.

You can find out more about Bacofoil at www.bacofoil.co.uk; on Twitter @ILoveBacofoil; on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ilovebacofoil.

 

Tenderstem®
(Sponsor of the Food Magazine or Section of the Year Award)

Tenderstem® logo

Tenderstem® is a cross between Chinese kale and regular broccoli. It’s quick to cook, full of flavour and incredibly versatile. Perfect for everything from stir fries to salads and sushi to spring rolls, Tenderstem® adds colour and flavour to a huge range of dishes. It has a mild, distinctive flavour and a texture more akin to asparagus than traditional broccoli and it's deliciously succulent. As the name suggests, Tenderstem® is tender from floret to stem so you can eat the whole vegetable, unlike ordinary broccoli, which tends to have a thicker, and sometimes woody, stem, so there’s no waste.

A study by Warwick University’s Horticultural Research Institute has shown Tenderstem® contains twice the vitamin C content of the equivalent fresh weight of oranges and has a higher concentration of vitamin C than both cauliflower and cabbage. It also contains one of the highest levels of folic acid compared to other members of the brassica family. The study also revealed Tenderstem® is 25-30% more tender than purple sprouting broccoli and the most tender variety of broccoli on the market, meaning it requires less cooking than any other form of broccoli, which means it retains a higher proportion of nutrients when cooked.

You can find out more about Tenderstem® at www.tenderstem.co.uk; on Twitter @tenderstem; on Facebook www.facebook.com/tenderstem; on Pinterest www.pinterest.com/tenderstem/.

 

Virginia Wine

Virginia Wine logo

‘Recently, when I’m asked if I’ve discovered any new world-class vineyard regions, I’m quite likely to say yes, one of the oldest in America – Virginia’

(Oz Clarke, 250 Best Wines Wine Buying Guide 2012).

Viognier, Cabernet Franc, Petit Verdot, and Bordeaux-style blends are proving to be the strengths of the Virginia wine region. Over the past 30 years the number of wineries in Virginia has grown from just a handful to more than 220. These wineries are located on the East Coast of the US in stunning locations near the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains, the verdant Shenandoah Valley, and along the edge of the sparkling Chesapeake Bay.

Through hard work, knowledge and skills of home-grown talent, augmented by winemakers from around the world, elegant, food-friendly wines are being produced that have captured the attention of UK wine lovers.

We are proud to share these Virginia wines, provided by New Horizon Wines Ltd., an importer of fine Virginia wines, at the Guild of Food Writers Awards. These wines are part of an extensive selection available at leading wine merchants and fine restaurants in London and throughout the UK.

You can find out more about Virginia Wine at www.newhorizonwines.com.