The Irish food scene has once again nabbed international recognition, as an Irish cookbook has been nominated in the prestigious IACP Cookbook Awards.
And for Mains: Recipes, Stories and Pints with an Irish Butcher and a Chef by Gaz Smith and Rick Higgins has become possibly the first Irish cookbook to be tapped by the awards, with the nominees announced at the Now Serving cookbook and culinary store in Los Angeles.
And for Mains is a collaboration between Gareth Smith, the head chef of Michael's in Dublin and butcher Rick Higgins, who supplied steaks to Michael's for years. Their idea was born over a butcher's block, Smith has said, and contains recipes for meat dishes, seafood feasts and more.
Dotted in between are their tales from the Irish food scene, as well as tidbits about crab fishing and a butcher's guide to Irish beef.
Speaking of the nomination, Nine Bean Rows publisher Kristin Jensen says, "Gaz and Rick have put Irish food on a world stage with And for Mains. As far as I'm aware, it’s the first Irish cookbook to be shortlisted in these awards".
Author Gaz Smith says: "To think that this book was dreamed up over a butcher block on a drizzly Monday evening. We were nervous, but hands were shook, a pint was had and we started without a fecking clue what we were at. But we knew what we wanted, and as a team we got it done in just a few months. It really shouldn't have worked, but now we’re finalists among the biggest, most respected multinational powerhouses in the publishing world. It’s pretty mind-blowing, to be honest."
"Gaz and I dove in head first without knowing a thing about putting a book together," says author Rick. "The only thing we were 100% sure about was the type of book we wanted, the team we wanted around us and that there would be no shortcuts. It still hasn’t sunk in what we have achieved."
Created in 1978, the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a group of food media, culinary instructors, chefs, restaurateurs, artisan food purveyors, cookbook authors, food influencers, and food companies and more, which provides a network for professionals and celebrates achievements in the field.
The awards involve multi-step, rigorous recipe testing in all of the relevant awards categories, and are given in 15 categories. One cookbook will be named the IACP Book of the Year.
This year's judging panel included Andrea Nguyen, the author of six acclaimed cookbooks and a leading voice in Asian American food and publishing. Dianne Jacob, a multiple award-winning author, editor and writing coach. Irvin Lin, a cookbook author and award-winning photographer and recipe developer. Martin Earl, Culinary Editor for ThermoWorks, and Shaun Chavis, a food and health journalist in Atlanta, Georgia.
