Did you know?: Pakistan wins at the International Gourmand Awards

Deliciously Yours by chocolatier Lal Majid receives Gourmand Award for Best Pastry Sweets Cookbook in the World.

Pakistan’s independent publishers Markings’ first dessert based cookbook, Deliciously Yours by chocolatier Lal Majid won prestigious Gourmand Award for Best Pastry Sweets Cookbook in the World, beating culinary giants Italy and France who were also shortlisted for this category at the International Gourmand Awards Ceremony held in Beijing during the first Beijing Cookbook Fair which took place from May 19 to May 21. According to a press release, the cookbook was also nominated in two other categories: Best First Cookbook and Best Chocolate Cookbook.

This is the first time that a book from an independent Pakistani publisher has been recognised and awarded on an international platform, competing against 187 countries. Indeed the annual Gourmand Awards have established themselves as the premier cookbook recognition authority and are widely regarded by international journalists as the Oscars of the Cookbook Awards.

Speaking about Pakistan’s win at the Gourmand Awards, CEO of Markings, Kiran Aman said, “This has been a very proud moment for us as Pakistanis - it is the first time that the work of an independent publisher from our country has been awarded internationally. It is a great source of pride to have our work recognized by one of the world’s most prestigious authorities in cookbooks, winning  the  Gourmand Award for our first ever dessert based title.”

Published in The Express Tribune, May 26^th, 2014.

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