Pakistan’s premier independent publisher Markings, proudly represented Pakistan for the second time in a row at the coveted Gourmand Award ceremony, for the Hindi-Urdu, Pakistan-India collaborative cookbook Zaiqay Frontier Kay – Dera Ismail Khan Kay Bhulay Bisray Pakwan. The cookbook has been honoured by the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Award committee in the “Cookbook For Peace: India-Pakistan” category. The cookbook was also nominated in the Best Vegetarian Cookbook, Best Culinary History Cookbook and Best Local Cuisine Cookbook categories.
The winners were announced on Tuesday at the annual Gourmand Awards event, which took place in Yantai – the food capital of Shandong province in China. Representing the book at the event were the entire Bagai family, including Atul Bagai and the author’s granddaughter Saudamini Bagai. Markings CEO Kiran Aman and Markings Creative Director Tuba Arshad, represented the book’s publishers and Pakistan at the event.
Markings won their first prestigious Gourmand Awards for the title ‘Deliciously Yours’ by Lal Majid, in the “Best Pastry Sweets Cookbook” in 2014.
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards were founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau and endeavour to recognise and honour the best authors, publishers, food writers and all those who “cook with words”. The annual awards have established themselves as the premier cookbook recognition authority and are widely regarded by international journalists as the “Oscars” of the Cookbook Awards. Indeed, the growing number of countries, from 136 in 2009 to 205 in 2014, that participate in the program is indicative of the awards growing stature and prestige.
The 20th Gourmand Awards were held in Yuntai, China from June 8-9 and featured a variety of engaging culinary themed activities over the course of the event including food celebrations, a Fushan dinner in the birthplace of Shandong and Imperial cuisines, barbecue parties and the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards itself. The event also featured a host of conferences with sessions on topics such as world trends in food, “Pears and Health” and “Food on the Silk Road” among other fora focusing on natural food, organic food and health.
Speaking about the international recognition that ‘Flavours of the Frontier’ has garnered, Aman said, “The Gourmand Award recognition is an honour for all of us at Markings Publishing and we are excited to be a part of this pioneering initiative. This cookbook is no way a mere collection of recipes but rather a tribute to the shared cultural heritage of Pakistan and India, a forgotten history and is in essence an emblem of peace. It has been recognized by the prestigious Gourmand Awards body as significant across-border collaboration, an initiative that proves that disparate nations, cultures and peoples can connect with each other through unifying commonalities such as through cuisine. We are delighted to be representing Pakistan on the global stage once again; this time promoting the message of cultural harmony and peace through food.”
Sharing his thoughts about the recognition, Atul said, “It is a tremendous honour to have my mother’s work so widely recognised by the international community. Cooking was a passion that ran through the veins of my mother Pushpa and a skill that she passed down through generations as a treasured family heirloom. The cookbook is a tribute to her skill and tenacity as a culinary expert and aptly represents the culture and rich heritage of Dera Ismail Khan through the form of gourmet cuisine. Having this book published in the country where my mother belonged to and to see it garner the praise it has achieved is a phenomenal feeling for all her children.”
