«Algarve Mediterrânico: Tradition, Products and Kitchens», by Maria Manuel Valagão, Bertílio Gomes and Vasco Célio, has just won the 3rd prize for the best cookery book in the world, in Gourmand Awards, assigned during the World Cookbook Fair, in Frankfurt, Germany.
O first place in the most prestigious world prize for cookbooks and is even compared to the «Oscars» of the sector, it was awarded to a publication in the Netherlands, entitled «With our own Hands», while the 2nd was awarded to a work from Italy, «Italian Gourmet». In other words, the book about the Algarve, which reached 3rd place, is in very good company.
Os Gourmant World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau. Every year, they award the best gastronomic wines and wines, print or digital, as well as television cooking shows.
Books from 250 countries participate in these prestigious awards, the only international competition in the sector, open to works published in all languages. This year 209 countries participated, with 103 books selected for the final shortlist, in various categories.
With the huge network created around the Gourmand Awards, Edouard Cointreau decided to launch the Cookbook Fair, in 2010, whose first four editions took place in Paris. In 2014, the event took place in Beijing, while since last year the World Cookbook Fair takes place at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
The book, edited by Ink of China in October 2015, is a unique repository of the Algarve's vast cultural heritage in terms of gastronomy, collected by Maria Manuel Valagão. The work also features interpretations by Vasco Célio, in photography, and Bertílio Gomes, in contemporary cuisine.
Land of sun, salt, wine, olive oil, bread and fish, the Algarve preserves Mediterranean traditions that must not only be valued, but also established and recreated in an innovative way.
Over decades, Maria Manuel Valagão collected ancient memories and customs — giving special attention to the anthropological and social aspects of food products, conservation processes and preparation techniques — and studied their relationship with history, landscape and gastronomy of this region.
Miguel Esteves Cardoso, in “Público”, had already considered this work as “a complete, delicious and wise book”.
This is already the second prize that «Algarve Mediterrânico: Tradition, Products and Kitchens» receives, as it had already been awarded the prize for gastronomic literature awarded by International Academy of Gastronomy.
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