One of my favorite recent cookbooks, Canal House Cooking Volume N°1, Summer, by Melissa Hamilton and Christopher Hirsheimer, was chosen as a finalist in The Tournament of Cookbooks on food52, a nifty new website aimed at serious home cooks (one I only learned of from the release about this book).
According to the release, the tournament pits Canal House Cooking up against some of the biggest names in the food business. Competing against books by famed chefs like Thomas Keller, John Besh, and David Chang, Canal House Cooking made it onto their list of “16 of the best cookbooks of 2009,” judged by a panel of 17 food professionals and celebrities. “In our case it truly is an honor to be nominated considering that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with books from the finest chefs and the most illustrious publishers,” said Hirsheimer and Hamilton. “We are thrilled to say the least.”
You may remember I wrote about Canal House Cooking last summer, after my visit to the authors’ studio in Lambertville, where they produce beautiful cookbooks, for themselves and for internationally famous food personalities. I’m hoping to see Canal House Cooking Vol. 2, for fall, soon
Competing for the coveted “Piglet Trophy,” the tournament began October 14, and continues for four weeks, narrowing down the list of 16 books to one winner. One of the food52 website founders is Amanda Hesser, the popular author and one time food editor at the New York Times.
Follow food52 to see if this underdog can take the prize. Canal House Cooking is sold on their website, at independent stores, and at Amazon.com.
UPDATE as of 10/23 – Canal House won Round 1, and proceeds in the competition to Round 2!
UPDATE as of 10/29 – Canal House wins next Round (thanks to Gweneth Paltrow), and proceeds to the final four….
NJ SPICE 