'Defining' book by Macki wins Jane Grigson Award for Food and Drink Writers

Dina Macki has scooped the Jane Grigson Trust Award for New Food and Drink Writers, for her upcoming book Bahari: Recipes from an Omani Kitchen and Beyond.

To be published by Dorling Kindersley in February 2024, Macki uses the book to showcase Omani cuisine, moving beyond geographical borders to incorporate the influence of Zanzibar and of many countries spanning the Indian Ocean, the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

The two runners up were The Balkan Kitchen by Irina Janakievska (to be published by Hardie Grant in spring 2024) and Caribe’: A Cookbook with History by Keshia Sakarah (also to be published by Hardie Grant in spring 2024). Macki wins a £2,000 cash prize.

Donald Sloan, chair of judges and of the Jane Grigson Trust, said: “We’ve no doubt that all three books on the shortlist are going to find great success and deserve the widest possible readership.”

Joining Sloan on the judging panel were journalist and author Jimi Famurewa, chef proprietor at Quo Vadis Jeremy Lee, food writer Chetna Makan and Linda Challis, trustee of the Jane Grigson Trust.

Famurewa added: “There was a ferocious debate to choose a winner, but we felt this was the defining work on the subject written with real verve, personality and full of delicious recipes which give the reader the chance to dive into an exciting culinary culture which will be new to many readers.”