The Guild of Food Writers announced the winners of its prestigious awards at a banquet this evening at the Royal Institution’s world-famous theater. The Guild awards recognize emerging talent as well as the best-known food writers and broadcasters in the UK. The 16 categories range from books and podcasts to recipe and restaurant writing. There was a new category this year, Drinks Cookbook, and there was a special award given to #Cook for Ukraine, a community and volunteer-led fundraising campaign and initiative designed to support the people and children impacted by the conflict.

The winner of the General Cookbook category was Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many by Jeremy Lee while the International winner was one of my favorites from last year, The Nutmeg Trail: A Culinary Journey Along the Ancient Spice Route by Eleanor Ford. Jayne Buxton took home the Investigative Food Work Award for The Great Plant-Based Con: Why eating a plants-only diet won’t improve your health or save the planet. The new Drinks Book award went to Cider Planet: Exploring the Producers, Practices, and Unique Traditions of Craft Cider and Perry from Around the World by Claude Jolicoeur and the Food Book of the Year was English Food: A People’s History by Diane Purkiss.

Many of these books were on my radar or already on my bookshelf, but I will have to grab A Dark History of Sugar by Neil Buttery after it took home both the Special Interest & First Book awards. You can view the complete list of winners on our Guild of Food Writers 2023 page, and see the list of all finalists on the Guild's website.