The general quality of the books is improving fast, with no increase in the average retail price of the books. It is true worldwide, with stunning books from Slovenia, Turkey, Peru, Scandinavia or Greece. Competition for quality from Germany, Australia, New Zealand or Japan is better than ever, with a strong increase in France and Spain.

The retail market for cookbooks has been very healthy for 5 years, with a 5% yearly growth rate. In the US, the leading market, sales have increased 9% yearly, reaching 530 million books sold in 2000 (Source: Publishers Weekly, July 2001). The production of titles is increasing even quicker, reaching over 20% in France this year. The number of titles published last year were 1500 in Germany, 1200 in Great Britain, 600 in France (2001), 450 in Spain, 400 in Latin America, 320 in Sweden, etc. The growth in the cookbook market parallels the increase in food television shows.

The thirst for wine books also increases, following the sophistication of wine consumption, with a strong shift towards better quality wines worldwide. The consumers want to learn more about wine. There were excellent wine books published this year in Chile, Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Hungary, as well as in France, the US, or Great Britain. Wine books represent up to 15% of the volume of sales of cookbooks, with strong sales of wine guides.

Wine books to be read this year include Vine to Bottle, How Wine is Made, by Simon Woods (Mitchell Beazley-UK), Chilean Wine, by M.Leblanc (Ocho Libro Editores-Chile), O Ribeiro (Mirabel-Spain), Le Cordon Bleu Wine Essentials (Carroll and Brown-UK), The Global Encyclopedia of Wine (Harper Collins –Australia and Wine Appreciation Guild – USA)

The dominating trends continue to be both the growth in local or regional food books, and the globalisation of the tastes and recipes. There is a return of the interest in French cuisine, no longer seen as limited to Haute Cuisine, but respected for its techniques, experience and regional diversity. Asian Cuisine is becoming extremely popular and Asia could become the food center of the world in the next years. Japan, China, India cuisines all are the subject of books in many languages in other countries, with a strong food tourism destination. Mediterranean cuisine continues strong but with less momentum. Latino is the new fashion.

Readers want to enjoy, but also understand technical and cultural values in food. Carlo Petrini publisher his "Reason of Slow Food" (Laterzia-Italy) which he founded. "Sacred Food" (MQ Publishers-Great Britain) by Elisabeth Luard was one of the discoveries of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. Literature about food and Culinary History are increasingly in demand, such as "Dancing on My Table" (New Holland-New Zealand) by Julie Biuso, or "Eating England, Why We Eat What We Eat (Mitchell Beazley – Great Britain) by Hattie Ellis.

The book of the year is without doubt Le Grand Livre d’Alain Ducasse (ADF-France), 12 kilogs, 1056 pages, a monument compared in France to the works of Escoffier for its importance, quality, and depth. This edition probably is out of reach of the average reader as it is priced at 1400 French Francs, approximately $175 dollars, but it is worth it, and the perfect Christmas gift.

Of course, there are stunning traditional cookbooks, such as "Chocolate Desserts", by Pierre Herme and Dorie Greenspan (Little Brown-US) and Jacques Pepin’s Complete Techniques (Black Dog and Leventhal-US) Nobu , "The Cookbook" Kodansha International-Japan) or Jean Claude Bourgueil, Die Philosophie Der Grossen Küche (Dumont-Germany). There are even a very lively competition for children cookbooks, with the winner in English "Chocolate Lovers" by star chef Gabriel Gaté (Allen and Unwin-Australia). "Happy Days with The Naked Chef", by Jamie Oliver (Penguin) will make any reader enjoy food. Another world famous star with a cookbook this year is the Formula One race car driver with "Michael Schumachers Lieblingsgerichte", by Armin Karrer (Heel-Germany).

There are 3 masterworks published this year. "Food-The Essential A-Z Guide", by Murdoch Books in Australia, "Food-Die Ganze Welt Der Lebensmittel" by Christian Teubner in Germany, and the " Handbook for gastronomy", in Belgium by Lannoo and The Netherlands by Tirion.

Finally, the September 11 tragedy has had an impact on cookbooks and wine books. One of the many casualties was Windows of the World in New York. Although 79 staff members and 67 guests of the restaurant were reported missing, including two assitant cellar masters and the pastry chef, fortunately Kevin Zraly survived. He is the author of "The Windows of the World Wine Guide", winner of our Best in the World award for Wine Education last year, and is now setting up another wine school. The consensus at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2001 is that food and wine books will continue strong, as readers will tend to stay home more, but want to enjoy food and wine pleasures in spite or because of the general environment.

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