At this time I’m smiling to myself as I write…Our hard work has finally paid off….Our cookbook, Simply Trini Cooking, has won a Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Trinidad and Tobago this year 2021.
Did I say I’m smiling? Well, I’m laughing now beaming with joy. This award means a lot to me. It is a great achievement.
What is the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards?
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards was founded in 1995 by Edouard Cointreau. Every year, the awards honor the best cookbooks, print or ebook format, as well as food TV. For the awards this year (2021) cookbooks from 175 countries and regions, participated in this competition, the only international competition for culinary literature. The nominees for each category vie for the Best in the World which is given to four cookbooks in each category for the finals. Best of all, the competition is free, and open to all languages and nationalities.
Visit cookbookfair.com to learn more.
That being said, Simply Trini Cooking was placed in the category Caribbean (C21) where only one winner from each country in the category is chosen. So, for Trinidad and Tobago our cookbook Simply Trini Cooking was chosen.
It is an honour to represent Trinidad and Tobago for such a prestigious award. We have been recognized for our work a second time but more on that lower down. We now have the opportunity to vie for Best in the World 2021. I really, really appreciate this and now I’m sharing the good news to you all.
I must say I was really surprised that our Cookbook was chosen. I am super glad! …. Of course good news like this is really hard to keep to yourself lol. This is something to share with all our wonderful readers, especially those who to date made it their duty to buy a cookbook. They now own a cookbook that is highly recognized by the Gourmand World of Cookbooks. Reaching this far is quite an accomplishment , one that we could have hardly predicted.
So, now I can add another accolade under my name, due to the Simply Trini Cooking website, … author of a Gourmand World Cookbook Award winning cookbook Simply Trini Cooking…over 600 of the very best in Trini Cooking recipes. And, you may be wondering, what is the other recognition I received of late.
NALIS First Time Author
On that note I want to also thank NALIS for honouring me as a first time author as well this year. The National Library and Information System Authority honours first time authors every year and we were there as part of the lineup of authors. Again, I cannot express enough the appreciation I have for being part of this celebration of authors in our country. Of course you can always visit the Heritage Library and enjoy reading mine and all the the other books from our local authors.
I just want to say that I am especially pleased there is an avenue for first time authors to present themselves and their creation, especially when an author self-publishes and must do all the promotion on their own. We certainly need more of this in this country. Too many times many of our talented citizens are overlooked. Anyway, the ceremony was held in the highest esteem, because NALIS took this quite seriously. Here are some pictures from the ceremony below.
All this took place during COVID restrictions, which sort of dampened the mood a little. However, we all (the first authors) appreciated the fact that NALIS did not forget us.
So now for those of you who would like an autographed copy of our Gourmand Award winning cookbook, Simply Trini Cooking, you can either contact me by email or message me on facebook.
For now, more delicious Caribbean recipes to come. And, who knows probably another cookbook lol.
Ah gone.
Congratulations Felix! Your hard work paid off indeed. Simply Trini Cooking is in a class by itself, it’s one of a kind. We your readers and followers are very proud of your great achievement and success of this wonder book. The recipes are easy to follow and most of the ingredients are readily available almost anywhere in the world. So almost anyone could try their hands at cooking and baking using your marvelous book.
I bought both, the paperback and Kindle editions. I wish the book was hard cover though. I think I would take my copy to a printshop and see if they could make or put on a hard cover for me. This book is special and I want it to stay in tac and last forever lol.
Congratulations and thanks again for this worthwhile-having book.
Also, your website simplytrinicooking.com is great and well organized.
Thank you so much for your comment. It is certainly encouraging. I really thought of offering the book as a hard cover, but due to the size of the book it was not feasible as the price would be out of most people’s range. My mother-in-law covered her book with a firm clear sticky plastic. It works quite well to keep the book in order.
Well done and excellent work! I love that you’re being rewarded for your immeasurable contribution! Please keep the fantastic food ideas flowing!
Thank you Jason