Chris van Tulleken and Bee Wilson shortlisted for Fortnum & Mason’s Food and Drink Awards 2024

Fortnum & Mason’s Food and Drink Awards shortlist for 2024 features books by Bee Wilson, Chris van Tulleken and Laura Mucha, with subjects including the British chippy, fermentation and the wisdom of Greek grandmothers. 

The awards champion UK writers, publishers, photographers and broadcasters working in food and drink across 13 categories, selected by an independent judging panel for work across 2023. The winners will be announced on 2nd May at Fortnum & Mason, The Royal Exchange, hosted by chef and judging panel chair Angela Hartnett along with chef and broadcaster Andi Oliver. 

Two titles from Penguin Random House imprint Particular Books are vying for Food Book: Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food by Fuchsia Dunlop, which an exploration of the country’s culture told through 30 Chinese dishes, along with James Read’s Of Cabbages & Kimchi, which combines recipes with Read’s scientific interrogation of fermented foods. 

Another PRH title is recognised for Début Food Book – broadcaster and doctor van Tulleken’s bestselling exploration of the health impact of food processing, Ultra-Processed People (Cornerstone). The Cookery Book category includes Anastasia Miari’s Yiayia Time-perfected Recipes from Greece’s Grandmothers (Hardie Grant), which uncovers her family’s legacy alongside recipes. Long-time food writer and academic Wilson is up for Début Cookery Book with The Secret of Cooking (4th Estate), featuring recipes that helped her following her marriage break-up.

The full shortlists for the books categories are:

Food Book

Invitation to a Banquet: The Story of Chinese Food by Fuchsia Dunlop (Particular Books)

Of Cabbages & Kimchi by James Read (Particular Books)

Welcome to Our Table: A Celebration of What Children Eat Everywhere by Laura Mucha and Ed Smith, with illustrations by Harriet Lynas (Nosy Crow)  

Début Food Book

Food of the Cods: How Fish and Chips Made Britain by Daniel Gray (HarperNorth)

Medlars: Growing & Cooking by Jane Steward (Prospect Books)

Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken (Cornerstone Press)

Cookery Book

Comfort & Joy: Irresistible Pleasures from a Vegetarian Kitchen by Ravinder Bhogal (Bloomsbury)

Frontières: A chef’s celebration of French cooking by Alex Jackson (Pavilion)

Gohan: Everyday Japanese Cooking: Memories and stories from my family’s kitchen by Emiko Davies (Smith Street Books)

Yiayia: Time-perfected Recipes from Greece’s Grandmothers by Anastasia Miari (Hardie Grant)  

Début Cookery Book

A New Way to Bake: Re-imagined Recipes for Plant-based Cakes, Bakes and Desserts by Philip Khoury (Hardie Grant)

The Art of Friday Night Dinner by Eleanor Steafel (Bloomsbury)

The Secret of Cooking by Bee Wilson (4th Estate)

Drink Book

Peat and Whisky: The Unbreakable Bond by Mike Billett (Saraband)

Slow Drinks: A Field Guide to Foraging and Fermenting Seasonal Sodas, Botanical Cocktails, Homemade Wines, and More by Danny Childs (Hardie Grant)

Vines in a Cold Climate by Henry Jeffreys (Allen & Unwin)

Début Drink Book

Desi Pubs: A guide to British-Indian pubs, food and culture by David Jesudason (CAMRA)

How to Drink Australian by Jane Lopes and Jonathan Ross (Murdoch Books)

Talha Tales: Portugal’s Ancient Answer to Amphora Wines by Paul James White (White Ridgeway)