Established in 1990, The James Beard Foundation Awards recognizes outstanding achievement within the fine food and beverage industry. The Awards honor professionals including book authors, chefs, restaurateurs, winemakers, journalists, broadcasters and restaurant and graphic designers in the United States.

The nominees were announced by the James Beard Foundation on March 19th. Winners will be announced at the Awards Ceremony at Lincoln Center’s legendary Avery Fisher Hall, New York City on Monday, May 7, 2007. Cookbook of the year will be announced on May 7th. The James Beard Foundation Awards is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. All of the cookbooks on the list were published in the United States during 2006.

Category: Asian Cooking
Cradle of Flavor by James Oseland ($22.05 at Amazon.com, £14.52 at Amazon.co.uk)

Into the Vietnamese Kitchen: Tresured Foodways, Modern Flavors by Andrea Nguyen ($22.05 at Amazon.com, £22.99 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Sushi Experience by Hiroko Shimbo ($26.40 at Amazon.com, £19.07 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Baking and Dessert
Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan ($26.40 at Amazon.com, £18.33 at Amazon.co.uk)

Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters by Marilynn Brass and Shelia Brass ($18.87 at Amazon.com, £13.98 at Amazon.co.uk)

King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking by The Bakers at King Arthur Flour ($23.10 at Amazon.com, £18.37 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Cooking from a Professional Point of View
Alain Ducasse’s Desserts and Pastries by Frederic Robert ($122.85 at Amazon.com, £71.50 at Amazon.co.uk)

Happy in the Kitchen by Michel Richard with Susie Heller and Peter Kaminsky ($29.70 at Amazon.com, £19.80 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Professional Chef, 8th Edition by The Culinary Institute of America ($44.10 at Amazon.com, not available at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Entertaining
The Big Book of Appetizers by Meredith Deeds and Carla Snyder ($13.57 at Amazon.com, £7.91 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Big Book of Outdoor Cooking and Entertaining by Cheryl Alters Jamison (16.47 at Amazon.com, £11.45 at Amazon.co.uk)

Opera Lover’s Cookbook by Francine Segan ($23.10 at Amazon.com, £13.16 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Food of the Americas
Dishes from the Wild Horse Desert: Norteño Cooking of South Texas by Melissa Guerra ($21.86 at Amazon.com, £13.72 at Amazon.co.uk)

Kathy Casey’s Northwest Table by Kathy Casey ($23.10 at Amazon.com, £14.85 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee ($22.05 at Amazon.com, £15.17 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: General
The Family Kitchen by Debra Ponzek ($16.50 at Amazon.com, £11.81 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Improvisational Cook by Sally Schneider ($22.02 at Amazon.com, £16.01 at Amazon.co.uk)

Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Everyday by Roy Finamore ($19.80 at Amazon.com, £14.17 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Healthy Focus
The Diabetes Menu Cookbook: Delicious Special-Occasion Recipes for Family and Friends by Barbara Scott-Goodman and Kalia Doner ($21.86 at Amazon.com, £13.19 at Amazon.co.uk)

EatingWell Serves Two by Jim Romanoff ($15.72 at Amazon.com, £12.74 at Amazon.co.uk)

Whole Grains Every Day, Every Way by Lorna Sass ($20.48 at Amazon.com, £14.96 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: International
Arabesque by Claudia Roden ($22.05 at Amazon.com, £16.50 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Soul of a New Cuisine by Marcus Samuelsson ($26.40 at Amazon.com, £17.15 at Amazon.co.uk)

Spice by Ana Sortun ($23.07 at Amazon.com, £16.30 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Reference
Culinary Biographies: A Dictionary of the World’s Great Historic Chefs, Cookbook Authors and Collectors, Farmers, Gourmets, Home Economists, Nutritionists, Restauranteurs, Philosophers, Physicians, Scientists, Writers, and Others Who Influenced the Way We Eat Today by Alice Arndt ($48.00 at Amazon.com, not available at Amazon.co.uk)

The Organic Cook’s Bible by Jeff Cox ($26.40 at Amazon.com, £19.79 at Amazon.co.uk)

What to Eat by Marion Nestle ($18.90 at Amazon.com, £15.56 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Single Subject
Braise by Daniel Boulud ($20.48 at Amazon.com, £14.89 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Essence of Chocolate by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg ($22.05 at Amazon.com, £16.08 at Amazon.co.uk)

Vegetable Soups from Deborah Madison’s Kitchen by Deborah Madison ($13.57 at Amazon.com, £10.99 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Wine and Spirits
Keys to the Cellar: Strategies and Secrets of Wine Collecting by Peter D. Meltzer ($19.77 at Amazon.com, £13.19 at Amazon.co.uk)

Romancing the Vine by Alan Tardi ($17.13 at Amazon.com, £11.91 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Wines of France: The Essential Guide for Savvy Shoppers by Jacqueline Friedrich ($13.57 at Amazon.com, £13.99 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Writing on Food
Heat by Bill Buford ($16.35 at Amazon.com, £11.87 at Amazon.co.uk)

The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan ($16.17 at Amazon.com, £7.43 at Amazon.co.uk)

The United States of Arugula: How We Became a Gourmet Nation by David Kamp ($16.38 at Amazon.com, £11.92 at Amazon.co.uk)

Category: Photography
Kaiseki: The Exquisite Cuisine of Kyoto’s Kikanoi Restaurant photographed by Masashi Kuma ($29.70 at Amazon.com, £16.49 at Amazon.co.uk)

Michael Mina photographed by Karl Petzke ($31.50 at Amazon.com, £22.89 at Amazon.co.uk)

Tartine photographed by France Ruffenach ($22.05 at Amazon.com, £14.85 at Amazon.co.uk)

While the parade sounds like fun, another way to usher in a prosperous year is to enjoy good food. There are no specific dishes attributed to the Chinese New Year, like turkey is known for the American Thanksgiving. A banquet-style meal with many various dishes is the key.

Simple Chinese Cooking by Kylie Kwong was released in the US earlier this month, just in time for some Chinese New Year food ideas. Kylie Kwong is known for combining traditional Chinese recipes with contemporary techniques. Her Australian television shows Heart and Soul and Simply Magic also air on cable channels throughout the world including the US and Canada. The Simple Chinese Cooking cookbook is a companion to her Simply Magic series.

I like that Kylie introduces Asian ingredients, which may seem strange, in a very approachable way. For example, the Hot and Sour Soup recipe calls for silken tofu which many people may have never worked with before. The directions do not vaguely state something like “cut the tofu into 30 pieces” which may have some people standing over their tofu for a bit wondering what to do. Instead, very detailed instructions are provided and you are directed to “Gently remove tofu from packet and invert on a plate. Carefully cut into 30 cubes (cut lengthways into 5 equal slices, then widthways into 6).” I really appreciate these details because you basically can not do it wrong. Personally, I have cooked tofu many times but never tried that particular cut before, so even I learned something.

Not all ingredients are foreign, but to complete some recipes you will need to make a visit to your local Asian grocer. Items like kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) and fresh black cloud ear fungus (usually tasteless but provides a slight crunchy texture) are not easy to come by. The Chilled Cucumber Salad though has very simple ingredients and is really easy to make. It has alot of flavor and it can be served as an elegant complement almost anything.

I noticed while making both the soup and the salad that Kylie’s instructions teach you new ways to cut the food which really has a lot to do with Chinese cooking. I have never peeled an entire cucumber before to generate thin slices, but they were perfect for the soup. And it’s those nice touches that make the end product seem more authentic than just the combination of ingredients.

Kylie Kwong’s Simple Chinese Cooking available from Amazon.com for $23.07 and Amazon.co.uk For £16.50.

So far I have made three recipes from this book: Tula’s Country-Style Greek Salad, Crosscut Stump Stew, and Tiddlywinks Toadstool Pie.

The photography in this book is very artistic and there all sorts of craft ideas provided as well. Learn how to make themed centerpieces and party decorations in addition to what food to prepare. Amy loves googly eyes and uses them on everything from peanuts to invitations and she has issued the Amy Sedaris Craft Challenge: add googly eyes to any item of food!

Amy Sedaris will be on New York Public Radio’s Leonard Lopate Show on Friday February 9, 2007 and she’s picking the winner of her googly eye food craft challenge! Check out the Flickr pool of entries submissions because it will definately put a smile on your face. Then go ahead and make your own googly-eyed food, take a picture of it and enter the Amy Sedaris Craft Challenge.

What should we have for dinner? The question has confronted us since man discovered fire, but according to Michael Pollan, the bestselling author of The Botany of Desire, how we answer it today, at the dawn of the twenty-first century, may well determine our very survival as a species. Should we eat a fast-food hamburger? Something organic? Or perhaps something we hunt, gather, or grow ourselves? The omnivore’s dilemma has returned with a vengeance, as the cornucopia of the modern American supermarket and fast-food outlet confronts us with a bewildering and treacherous food landscape. What’s at stake in our eating choices is not only our own and our children’s health, but the health of the environment that sustains life on earth.

This is one of those books that I think every American should read. I learned a lot from this book, but that’s not to say that I enjoyed it. I actually had a really hard time listening to many parts. One minute I was ready to swear off meat entirely, then I decided I’d still eat meat but try to buy “organic”. Then I learned the organic industry isn’t at all what I thought it was. At one point I decided not to eat corn because of how it has been bastardized. But then I discovered corn is used in EVERYTHING and that option is just not possible. Not only did I come away from this book disappointed in the American food industry, but I also came away very confused. What exactly can I eat that does not abuse animal “rights” or environmental issues? It feels to me like a dead end. Besides looking for a nearby farm, I can’t help but be part of the problem. And no one enjoys a book where they discover that their daily actions are part of a problem. I also became ashamed of my job because I work for a chemical fertilizer company and I had no idea what our products are doing! Of course when I talk to my company about it, I get another side of the story, so then I got confused again.

As a result of the information provided in this book, I have changed my view on the food that I eat. The good thing is that I feel more educated about it all. Every aspect of the food chain is discussed in great detail. In general, I don’t have a change in my attitude of buying organic vs. non-organic. I look for quality either way. But it definitely has changed my thinking on processed foods. Why get McDonald’s when I can get a roasted chicken from the supermarket? Is either better for the animals used and environment? No. Is either a “local” product? Probably not. But I now have a better worldwide economic view on what goes into the food I choose to eat. All I know is that I want to eat as PURE as I can. I don’t want to put all sorts of nasty chemicals in my body. If I can buy local, I will. If I can buy organic, I will. But I will not beat myself up if I cannot do these things, because our national food industry and the companies involved make that difficult for us. And that is a shame.

Has anyone else read this book yet? I am interested to know how it affected other people. Because if you read this book, SOMETHING in the way you think about food will change.

Michael Pollan recently published an article titled Unhappy Meals in the New York Times Magazine. In it, he discusses processed foods and it leaves me feeling the same way as I did when I finished The Omnivore’s Dilemma. Confused on how to stop the problem. And I’m munching on a bag of Fritos leftover from a business lunch as I write this. . . The ingredients say that they contain whole corn, corn oil and salt (no preservatives). But is that really what I’m eating?