
The 2020 Art of Eating Prize Longlist
The quality of the books in contention for the prize this year was especially high. The judges have selected not 12 but 13 books for the Longlist. As ever, they are highly varied, including two memoirs, two books on Mexico, two Western takes on Japanese food, two books from an African American perspective, and one on artificial meat. The judges are Julia Bainbridge, John Birdsall, Sara Jenkins, Edward Lee, Harold McGee, Helen Rosner, and Frank Stitt — all with strong backgrounds in food and writing. On February 11, the Shortlist of six books will be announced. The winner of $10,000 will be announced on February 25, 2020.
The 2019 Art of Eating Prize Longlist
The judges’ conversations leading to this year’s Longlist were especially insightful. Eight of the 12 are cookbooks, but there’s never a pattern in the kind of book that ends up on the list. Variously, they stand out for literary style, history that explains where we are today, significant culinary cultures that are little known, innovative fermentations (a first for the Longlist!), and of course accessible, contemporary recipes for home cooks. Our judging panel is notable for its quality: Lisa Abend, Julia Bainbridge, Tse Wei Lim, Jordan Mackay, Harold McGee, Helen Rosner, and Frank Stitt. The Shortlist will be announced on February 12, and the winner of the $10,000 prize will be announced on February 26, 2019.
The Best Cook in the World: Tales from My Momma’s Table
by Rick Bragg (Alfred A. Knopf)
Cooking South of the Clouds: Recipes and stories from China’s Yunnan Province
by Georgia Freedman (Kyle Books)
Cooking in Iran: Regional Recipes & Kitchen Secrets
by Najmieh Batmanglij (Mage Publishers)
Eating NAFTA: Trade, Food Policies, and the Destruction of Mexico
by Alyshia Gálvez (University of California Press)
Feast: Food of the Islamic World
by Anissa Helou (Ecco)
The Food of Northern Thailand
by Austin Bush (Clarkson Potter)
Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat
by Jonathan Kauffman (HarperCollins)
How to Eat a Peach: Menus, Stories, and Places
by Diana Henry (Mitchell Beazley)
The Noma Guide to Fermentation
by Rene Redzepi and David Zilber (Artisan Books)
Solo: A Modern Cookbook for a Party of One
by Anita Lo (Alfred A. Knopf)
Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revised
by Tamar Adler (Scribner)
Superiority Burger Cookbook: The Vegetarian Hamburger Is Now Delicious
by Brooks Headley (W.W. Norton & Company)
The 2018 Art of Eating Prize Longlist
The longlist, as always, makes the judges’ most important statement and reflects serious, often highly specific conversations. This year’s 12 books embrace the cuisines of particular cultures, important history, the practical acts of cooking and of making cheese; they reflect an openness to fresh voices. Only five are cookbooks in a conventional sense. The competition was strong, and it wasn’t easy for the judges to narrow down to 12. They are all writers with several best-sellers among their books. Eric Asimov, Lisa Abend, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt, Peter Meehan, Pim Techamuanvivit, Adam Sachs, and Frank Stitt have backgrounds in food and wine as well as writing, and in their experience and knowledge, they form an unusually knowledgeable group. On February 13, the Shortlist of six books will be announced. The winner of $10,000 will be announced on March 1, 2018.
Bangkok: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of Thailand
by Leela Punyaratabandhu (Ten Speed Press)
The Cooking Gene: A Journey Through African American Culinary History in the Old South
by Michael W. Twitty (Amistad Books)
The Culinarians: Lives and Careers from the First Age of American Fine Dining
by David S. Shields (University of Chicago Press)
Istanbul & Beyond: Exploring the Diverse Cuisines of Turkey
by Robyn Eckhardt (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt)
Longthroat Memoirs: Soups, Sex and Nigerian Taste Buds
by Yemisi Aribisala (Cassava Republic Press)
Pok Pok The Drinking Food of Thailand
by Andy Ricker and JJ Goode (Ten Speed Press)
The Potlikker Papers: A Food History of the Modern South
by John T. Edge (Penguin Press)
Reinventing the Wheel: Milk, Microbes, and the Fight for Real Cheese
by Bronwen and Francis Percival (University of California Press)
Salt, Fat, Acid, Heat: Mastering the Elements of Good Cooking
by Samin Nosrat (Simon & Schuster)
State Bird Provisions: A Cookbook
by Stuart Brioza and Nicole Krasinski (Ten Speed Press)
The Taste of Empire: How Britain’s Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World
by Lizzie Collingham (Basic Books)
Tasting Georgia: A Food and Wine Journey in the Caucasus
by Carla Capalbo (Interlink Books)
The 2017 Art of Eating Prize Longlist
The longlist makes the judges’ most important statement and reflects serious, sometimes intense, often highly specific conversations. As it happens, these 12 books particularly illuminate other cultures. Although the books were chosen not for their subjects but as the strongest food books of the year, the judges wish to voice their support for peoples, places, cultures, and ideas now under attack. These books, as one said, “celebrate the Other. But of course there is no Other, only so many beautiful varieties of human being and human experience.” The judges’ backgrounds are in food and wine as well as writing, and in their experience and knowledge, they form an exceptional group: Lisa Abend, Tamar Adler, Michael Anthony, Eric Asimov, Jordan Mackay, Tejal Rao, and Winnie Yang.
The Aleppo Cookbook: Celebrating the Legendary Cuisine of Syria
by Marlene Matar (Interlink)
All Under Heaven: Recipes from the 35 Cuisines of China
by Carolyn Phillips (Ten Speed)
Five Morsels of Love
by Archana Pidathala (self-published)
Grape, Olive, Pig: Deep Travels Through Spain’s Food Culture
by Matt Goulding (Anthony Bourdain/Harper Wave)
Ingredienti: Marcella’s Guide to the Market
by Marcella and Victor Hazan (Scribner)
Land of Fish and Rice: Recipes from the Culinary Heart of China
by Fuchsia Dunlop (Norton)
Mastering the Art of Japanese Home Cooking
by Masaharu Morimoto (Ecco)
The New Mediterranean Jewish Table: Old World Recipes for the Modern Home
by Joyce Goldstein (University of California)
A Recipe for Cooking
by Cal Peternell (William Morrow)
Taste of Persia: A Cook’s Travels through Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Iran, and Kurdistan
by Naomi Duguid (Artisan)
Ten Restaurants That Changed America
by Paul Freedman (Liveright)
Victuals: An Appalachian Journey, with Recipes
by Ronni Lundy (Clarkson Potter)
The 2016 Art of Eating Prize Longlist
Each year, the longlist of 12 books, announced two weeks before the shortlist and a month before the winner, makes the judge’s most important statement. This year the books are again diverse, which doesn’t make judging easier. The longlist reflects serious, sometimes intense conversations and disagreements, often highly specific, although with some books the judges quickly reach a consensus. This time, late discussions focused on several books; votes were split and two books were tied. A second vote was taken to break the tie. The judges’ backgrounds are food, wine, and beer, as well as writing, and in their experience and knowledge, they form an exceptional group: Garrett Oliver, chair, Lisa Abend, Tamar Adler, Eric Asimov, Harold McGee, Tejal Rao, and Daniel Patterson.
Eating Viet Nam
by Graham Holliday (Ecco)
Fire and Ice: Classic Nordic Cooking
by Darra Goldstein (Ten Speed)
The Food of Oman
by Felicia Campbell (Andrews McMeel)
Franklin Barbecue
by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay (Ten Speed)
The Jemima Code: Two Centuries of African American Cookbooks
by Toni Tipton-Martin (University of Texas)
The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour through America’s Food
by Matthew Gavin Frank (Liveright)
Mexico from the Inside Out
by Enrique Olvera (Phaidon)
The Mission Chinese Cookbook
by Danny Bowien and Chris Ying (Ecco)
The Nordic Cookbook
by Magnus Nilsson (Phaidon)
Preserving the Japanese Way
by Nancy Singleton Hachisu (Andrews McMeel)
Senegal: Modern Senegalese Recipes from the Source to the Bowl
by Pierre Thiam and Jennifer Sit (Lake Isle)
Southern Provisions: The Creation and Revival of a Cuisine
by David S. Shields (University of Chicago)
The 2015 Art of Eating Prize Longlist
The longlist conveys the judges’ seriousness of purpose as they considered quality of writing, accuracy, depth, and longevity. This year’s books are diverse culturally, practically, and intellectually. The judges are an exceptional group of experts from the worlds of food, wine, and beer — Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Harold McGee, Garrett Oliver, Tejal Rao, Daniel Patterson, Winnie Yang, and Lucas Wittmann.
Al Dente: A History of Food in Italy
by Fabio Parasecoli (Reaktion Books)
Bitter: A Taste of the World’s Most Dangerous Flavor
by Jennifer McLagan (Ten Speed Press)
Charcutería: The Soul of Spain
by Jeffrey Weiss (Agate Publishing)
Cooking with Fire
by Paula Marcoux (Storey Publishing)
Cumin, Camels, and Caravans: A Spice Odyssey
by Gary Paul Nabhan (University of California Press)
Heritage
by Sean Brock (Artisan Books)
Ikaria: Lessons on Food, Life, and Longevity from the Greek Island Where People Forget to Die
by Diane Kochilas (Rodale Books)
In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker’s Odyssey
by Samuel Fromartz (Viking)
Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef
by Massimo Bottura (Phaidon Press)
Relæ: A Book of Ideas
by Christian F. Puglisi (Ten Speed Press)
The Third Plate: Field Notes on the Future of Food
by Dan Barber (Penguin Press)
Yucatán: Recipes From a Culinary Expedition
by David Sterling (University of Texas Press)



