Author’s victory is ‘Bittersweet’

Baltimore

Bay AREA chocolate maven Alice Medrich won the cookbook of the year award at the International Assn. of Culinary Professionals convention here Saturday for her book “Bittersweet.” Medrich is a pioneer in American fine chocolate; she opened her first Cocolat store in Berkeley in 1976. The book, her sixth, combines techniques, tips and recipes with culinary memoir.

Cookbook of the Year: “Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate,” Alice Medrich (Artisan);

American: “Gulf Coast Kitchens,” Constance Snow (Clarkson Potter)

Bread, Other Baking and Sweets: “Great Cookies: Secrets to Sensational Sweets,” Carole Walter (Clarkson Potter)

Chefs and Restaurants: “Bistro Cooking at Home,” Gordon Hamersley with Joanne McAllister Smart (Broadway Books)

First Book: “I Am Almost Always Hungry: Seasonal Menus, Memorable Recipes,” Lora Zarubin (Stewart, Tabori and Chang)

General: “Bonnie Stern’s Essentials of Home Cooking,” Bonnie Stern (Random House Canada)

Health and Special Diet: “Entertaining for a Veggie Planet: 250 Down-to-Earth Recipes,” Didi Emmons (Houghton-Mifflin)

International: “The Slow Mediterranean Kitchen: Recipes for the Passionate Cook,” Paula Wolfert (John Wiley and Sons)

Literary Food Writing: “Cooking for Mr. Latte: A Food Lover’s Courtship, With Recipes,” Amanda Hesser (W.W. Norton)

Single Subject: “Bittersweet: Recipes and Tales from a Life in Chocolate,” Alice Medrich (Artisan)

Wine, Beer or Spirits: “The Brewmaster’s Table: Discovering the Pleasures of Real Beer With Real Food,” Garrett Oliver (HarperCollins)

Jane Grigson Award for Scholarship: “Cooking by Hand,” Paul Bertolli (Clarkson Potter)

-- Russ Parsons