Author’s victory is ‘Bittersweet’

Baltimore —  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