‘Eclectic’ shortlist for André Simon awards announced

The shortlist for this year’s André Simon Food & Drink Book awards has been released, with books on Chianti, volcanic wines and the ‘Rhône Rangers’ all in contention.

Five books on drink have been shortlisted this year (list below) and eight on food, with subjects as diverse as seasonal recipes based on foraging, cheese, puddings and ‘soups, sex and Nigerian taste buds’.

The drinks books are similarly diverse, covering cider, gin, the history of Rhône varieties in the US, Chianti Classico and wines grown on volcanic soils.

This year the judging panel was headed up by food writer and historian Bee Wilson and wine writer Fiona Beckett.

Nicholas Lander, chairman of the André Simon Memorial Fund, commented: “The food and drink book industry has sold £60 million worth of books in the UK so far this year and 2016 is likely to be the biggest to date in UK food and drink history, counteracting completely the predictions that the internet would see the demise of this genre.

“While other areas of publishing are shrinking, food and drink book sales are going from strength to strength; this was also reflected in the highly impressive production values. This is a year in which I am particularly proud to have been chairman. These are great books that reveal the passion of so many of our writers.”

Commenting on this year’s drinks books Beckett added: “This was one of the most eclectic and original selections of drink books from a fascinating and beautifully illustrated book on volcanic wines to an intriguing look at the history and mythology of the apple, taking in a definitive work on Chianti Classico, the absorbing history of California’s Rhône Rangers and an encyclopaedic work on 2016’s drink of choice for many, gin, along the way. So many different topics and approaches to the subject will make it an incredibly tough final round of judging.”

The shortlists in full are:

Drinks books:

American Rhône by Patrick Comiskey
The Apple Orchard by Pete Brown
Chianti Classico by Bill Nesto and Frances Di Savino
The Curious Bartender’s Gin Palace by Tristan Stephenson
Volcanic Wines by John Szabo MS

Food books:

The A-Z of Eating by Felicity Cloake
Flavour: Eat What you Love by Ruby Tandoh
Fresh India by Meera Sodha
Gather by Gill Meller
Land of Fish and Rice by Fuchsia Dunlop
Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds by Yemisi Aribisala
The Oxford Companion to Cheese edited by Catherine Donnelly
Pride and Pudding by Regula Ysewijn

The eventual winners will be announced at a ceremony at the Goring Hotel on 24 January 2017.