Gastronomica Awarded the Prix D'Or

Newswise — An international judging panel in Cannes on the French Riviera has awarded Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture its Prix D'Or. - the top honors in the food magazine category.

Ever since Gastronomica's founding by editor Darra Goldstein in 2001, it has won accolades. The journal continues to be known as "a brainy, lushly designed journal that wants to be serious about eating without losing the fun of it."

The range of articles is broad, from The Ideal Christmas Dinner to Edible Art: Springerle Cookies, to Chinese Restaurant-Nightclubs in 1940s San Francisco, to poetry - a poem by former poet laureate Louise Gluck recently compared her life and the universe to that of a peach sitting on the kitchen table.

More than a thousand food writers and gourmet media pros from 70 countries attended the Gourmet Voice World Food Media Festival in Cannes. The event recognized talent across all media, including television, print, books, and wine guides. Also honored was Alice Waters, owner of Chez Panisse restaurant in Berkeley, Calif., and advocate for sustainable agriculture.

Goldstein is professor of Russian at Williams College. She received her A.B. in modern languages from Vassar College and her Ph.D. in Slavic languages and literatures from Stanford University. Her specialty in Russian culture led her to a study of cuisine and culinary history.

She is the author of three cookbooks, "A Taste of Russia," "The Georgian Feast," and "The Winter Vegetarian." The Georgian Feast won the Julia Child Award in 1993 for Best Cookbook of the Year. Goldstein serves as general editor of the book series Californian Studies in Food and Culture (University of California Press) and is currently working on "Feeding Desire: Design and the Tools of the Table," an exhibition of European and American cutlery for the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in New York.

Gastronomica is published by the University of California Press. Goldstein is editor-in-chief and Jane Canova, assistant director of the Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures and Cultures at Williams College, managing editor.

For more information, see http://www.gastronomica.org.

Williams College is consistently ranked one of the nation's top liberal arts colleges. The college's 2,000 students are taught by a faculty noted for the quality of their undergraduate teaching. The achievement of academic goals includes active participation of students with faculty in research. Admission decisions are made regardless of a student's financial ability, and the college provides grants and other assistance to meet the demonstrated needs of all who are admitted. Founded in 1793, it is the second oldest institution of higher learning in Massachusetts. The college is located in Williamstown, Mass. To visit the college on the Internet: www.williams.edu