IRD’s Cashew Cookbook Wins Prestigious Award

International Relief & Development’s (IRD) The Cashew Cookbook received the award for the best cookbook in Senegal in two categories by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards for the year 2012.

Originally entered into the Paris Cookbook Fair, The Cashew Cookbook: Recipes from  Gambia and Senegal won in both the “Best Health and Nutrition Book” and “Best Single Subject Cookbook” categories and subsequently qualified for the “Gourmand Best in the World” competition.

Each year, Gourmand International brings together the best of cookbooks from around the world and awards them during a festival celebrating food, health, culture and lifestyle. The Paris Cookbook Fair, which took place February 22-24, 2013, held its award ceremony under the Pyramid of the Louvre Museum.

Author and Editor of The Cashew Cookbook, Jo Anne Yeager Sallah, spoke of her delight at being recognized on the international stage alongside many other amazing cookbooks by such a renowned organization.

“This award from Gourmand International is further validation of growing interest in African cuisine,” said Sallah. “It is such a great exposure for the agricultural value chains in which we work – cashew is an easy ingredient to market, and I am always happy and proud to be a cashew advocate.”

IRD is an American NGO working in the SeneGambia region to increase farmer and processor incomes through the improvement of the cashew value chain. The African Cashew Alliance and IRD have partnered on several projects in the region.  A series of IRD-organized events promoting cashew consumption  in early 2012 culminated in two cashew festivals (one in The Gambia and one in Ziguinchor, Senegal), where professional and home cooks submitted their recipes for using cashew in local dishes.

“The cookbook came about as a result of one element of the IRD’s three month long media campaign to promote consumption of cashew nuts and apples in the Senegal and Gambia as part of a Food for Progress program funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA),” Sallah said of how the cookbook idea was conceived.

The recognition of IRD’s cookbook among competitors from 171 countries is a testament to the power of advocacy as well as the international excitement surrounding cashews produced in Africa.  “It is a thrill and I hope that we can continue to produce high quality work that can be recognized in such illustrious circles”, she says. “We hope chefs and individuals cooking at home will use The Cashew Cookbook and eat well while doing good.”

Try out some cashew cooking with the following recipe from The Cashew Cookbook, or view the entire cookbook here.