The Best Christmas Gift: A Cookbook

More than one third of yearly cookbook sales take place in November and December. The best Christmas gift is often a cookbook. They are beautiful and practical, useful and cultural, local and international, great quality at a reasonable low price. Your local bookseller should have a large offer of great titles this year from the US or  the UK, or your own country.

If you want to be innovative and creative, there are other extraordinary cookbooks in English this year, often available internationally by Internet, sometimes offered with gift packaging upon request. This list of 112 new cookbooks and wine books 2011 in English has been established for  Gourmand-Magazine, by the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, which had 162 countries participating this year.

A dozen are Charity Fundraising Cookbooks, a very strong trend worldwide.

ANTIGUA - Tablemanners, Gulliver Johnson (Food and Drink Caribbean) ARGENTINA - Wine is a Passion, Alfredo Terzano, Maria Gil Juncal (Baco Club) AUSTRALIA - The Art of Pasta, Lucio Galletto (Penguin) -Wine, Terroir and Climate Change, Dr.John Gladstones (Wakefield Press) AUSTRIA - A Connoisseur's World, Vielfalt Geniessen, Günter Köck, Christian Diry, Elisabeth Wrbka, Martha Umhack, Andrew Smith (Lammerhuber) BAHRAIN - I want a Healthy Pregnancy, Alia Almoayed, Nutritionist (Almoayed) BALI - Mozaic - French Cuisine, Balinese Flavours, Chris Salans (Didier Millet-Singapore) BELGIUM - Kitchenaid, The Blender Cookbook (Minestrone) -100 Vintage Treasures from the World's Finest Wine Cellar, Michel-Jack Chasseuil (Tectum) BERMUDA - Bon Appetit, Bermuda, Jean-Claude Garzia (Gibbon) BHUTAN - Authentic Bhutanese Cookbook, Punap Ugyen Wangchuk (Jomo) Foods of the Kingdom of Bhutan, Nagamatsu (Bhutan Foundation-Tarayana Foundation) BOTSWANA - Botswana Traditional Recipes, Wame Molefhe (Botswana Craft Marketing) BRAZIL - Street Gastronomy, Carioca and Sao Paulo Guides, Sergio Bloch, Ines Garsom (Editora Arte Ensaio) BRUNEI - Healthy Living, Barnitus Ang, HJ Omar Ali HJ Mohd Daod (Royal Brunei Catering) BULGARIA - 100 Essential Recipes, Martin Miller-Yianni (Lulu) CAMBODIA - Cooking the Cambodian Way, Narin Seng Jamesen (JSRC Printing) CANADA - Peas and Thank you, Simple Meatless Meals, Sarah Mtheny (Hyperion)         - Cooking with Cory, Cory Parsons (Whitecap) CHANNEL ISLANDS - Ocean Voyage, Mark Jordan (Network) CHILE - Patagonian Cuisine, Francesco Fantini (Gourmet Patagonia) CHINA - Delicacy of Chinese Regional Cuisine , Mrs.Kitty Choi (Electronics Industry Press) China Tea, Wu Jianli (CHLIP) Food Adventures on the Silk Road, Chef Wan, Yvan Cadiou, Chakall, James McIntosh (Qingdao Press) Chinese Food Life Care (China Intercontinental Press) Fine Drink, Chinese Cuisine and Wine (Hubei Science and Technology Press) COSTA RICA - Costa Rica Fusion Cuisine, Isabel Campabadal (Jadine) CURAÇAO - Authentic Dutch Caribbean Cuisine, Desirée da Costa Gomez (Desirée Gourmet) CYPRUS - Mint, Cinnamon and Blossom Water, Ivy Liacopoulou (Create Space) DENMARK - 66 Best Restaurants Nordic Countries (Bent Christensen) Seven Days in Scotland (Kle-Art) ECUADOR - Feasts and Flavours of Ecuador, Carlos Gallardo de la Puente (Universidad de las Americas) ESTONIA - Eat First, Dimitri Derjanov (Kirjastus Menu) Essential Nourishment, Recipes from my Estonian Farm, Marika Blossfeldt (Essential Nourishment) ETHIOPIA - Coffee Story Ethiopia, Majka Burhardt (Shama books-Ninety Plus Coffee) FINLAND - Reindeer, Including DVD (Reedme.Fi) Angry Birds Cookbook (Rovio) FRANCE - Ritz Paris, Haute Cuisine, Michel Roth, Jean-François Mesplede (Flammarion) 34 Chefs, 34 Recipes, Winners of Bocuse d'Or (Atlantique Press) Union des Grands Crus de Bordeaux (Feret) GABON - How to Cook a Crocodile - Bonnie Lee Black (Peace Corps Writers) GEORGIA - Georgian Dishes, Merab Beradze (Kirtadze) GERMANY -Chocolate Collection, Franz Ziegler (Matthaes) GHANA - Ghanaian Cookbook - Sophie Manu (Adaex-Accra) HAITI - On That Day Everybody Ate, Margaret Trost (Koa Books-What if Foundation) HONG KONG - The Sound of French Wines, Wilson Kwok (Good Profit Publishing) Crafted Passion, Gerard Dubois (La Rose Noire) Dominica's Bo Ho Ho, for the Red Cross (Joyfool Books) Mastering Wine for the Asian Palate, Jeannie Cho Lee, MW (Asset Publishing) HUNGARY - The Hungarian Kitchen, Kolozvari Ildiko (CasteloArt) Budapest City of Flavours, Csapo Katalin (Holnap) ICELAND - Chef Ulfar, Ulfar Eysteinsson (Ljosmynd) Delicious Iceland, Volundur Volundarsson (Salka) INDIA - Highway on my Plate, Rocky Singh, Mayur Sharma (Random House - NDTV) The Tulleeho Book of Cocktails, Vikram Achana (Westland) INDONESIA - Fantastic Cooking - Rinrin Marinka (Gramedia) IRELAND - Farmhouse Cheeses of Ireland, Glynn Anderson, John McLaughlin (The Collins Press) Boiling Point, Nick Munier (Y Books) ITALY - Sicilian Cookery - William dello Russo (Sime) Silene, Daniel Spoerri (Ceccarelli) JAMAICA - Tastes like Home - My Caribbean Cookbook, Cynthia Nelson (Ian Randle) Kito in the Kitchen, Radha Pooran (LMH) JAPAN - Drinking Japan, Chris Bunting (Tuttle) Net Gurus can Cook - For Earthquake and Tsunami Victims (Grape City Power Tools) JORDAN - The Secret Ingredient, Deema Hajjawi Hawdan (Damascus Publisher) KENYA - Safari Cuisine, Andres Bifani (Location Africa Films) LAOS - From Honeybee to Pepperwood, Creative Lao Cooking  (Friends International) Lao Cooking and the Essence of Life, Xaixana Champanakone (Xaixana) LEBANON - Marlene's Best Recipes, Marlene Matar (Hachette Antoine) LIBERIA - J is for Jollo Rice, Wayetu Moore (One Moore Book) MALAYSIA - The Sarawak Eurasian Association Legacy Cookbook (Rhino Press) The Best of Chef Wan (Marshall Cavendish) MADEIRA - The Island Vineyard, Noel Cossart, Emanuel Berk (The Rare Wine Company) MALTA - Seasonable and Sustainable Cooking, Karen Mugliett (Allied Publications) MONACO - J'aime Monaco , Alain Ducasse (Alain Ducasse) MORDOVIA - Mordovian Cuisine, S.S.Markova (Morovskoe Knizhnoe Izdatel'stvo) MOROCCO - A Month in Marrakech, Andy Harris (Hardie Grant Australia) NETHERLANDS - Briny Clay, Edwin Vinke (Vinke Holdings) NEW ZEALAND - Me'a Kai, Robert Oliver, The Best Cookbook in the World 2010 - South Pacific Islands Cuisine (Random House) The Molten Cookbook, Michael van de Elzen (Random House) From Kai to Kiwi, Helen May (Otago University) PAKISTAN - Mrs.Azra Syed's Pakistani Cooking (Markings Publishing) Tasneem's Indian - Pakistani Cuisine Made Easy, Tasneem Ahmad - Switzerland Empty Bellies, Broken Dreams, Michael Kugelman (Vanguard Books - Lahore) PAPUA - The Creation of Plant Life (University Papua New Guinea Press) PERU - The World's Best Cebiche, Javier Wong (Mesa Redonda) PHILIPPINES - Discover Flavors of the Philippines  Islands (Mama Sita) POLAND - Rose Petal Jam - Dr.Beata Zatorska (Tabula Books - Australia) PORTUGAL - The Port Wine Route, José Miguel Pereira (Editions au Pont des Arts-France) Real Men Drink Port, and Ladies do too! Bob Howkins (Quiller-UK) SAINT MARTIN - Caribbean Vegan, Taymer Mason (The Experiment) From Yvette Kitchen to your Table, Yvette Hyman (House of Nehesi) SCOTLAND - Maw Broon's Kitchen, Gift Pack (Waverley) SEYCHELLES - Grow and Eat your Own Food - Dr.Nirmal Jiva Shah (Nature Seychelles) SIERRA LEONE - Foods of Sierra Leone and other Western African Countries , Rachel C.J.Massaqoi (Author House) SINGAPORE - Singapore Heritage Cookbooks (Marshall Cavendish) The end of Char Kway, Leslie Tay (Epigram) Miele Guide 2011-2012 - The Finest Restaurants in Asia (Ate Media) Awakening the Appetite (Singapore Cancer Society) SOUTH AFRICA - Cooked Out of the Frying Pan, Justin Bonello (Penguin) Braai Masters of the Cape Winelands (Sunbird) Khoi-Khoin  Food Culture, Coetzee (Lapa) SPAIN - Rias Baixas, Gourmet Territory, Francesc Guillamet (Diputación de Pontevedra) Wine Tourism, F.Xavier Medina (Universitat Oberta Catalunya) SWEDEN - Swedish Cookies and Desserts, Malin Lanbdqvist, Joel Wäreus (Max Ström) Whiskey and Food, Jan Groth (Grenadine) SWITZERLAND - Cheese - A Slice of Swiss Culture, Sue Style (Bergli Books) TANZANIA - The Hopeful Chef (School of St.Jude) THAILAND - The Principles of Thai Cookery , Chef McDang Show (McDang Show) Somtum, A Meeting of Flavours, Taste and Cultures (Le Cordon Bleu-Dusit) TRINIDAD - Ah'Len (Syrian Lebanese Women Association) TURKEY - Gluten Free Mediterranean Gourmet Cuisine, Dilek Alishan Sabanci (Sedes) Flavours and Flowers, Gönül Paksoy (Paksoy) UAE - Dubai -When Suzanne Cooks, Suzanne Husseini (Motivate) VIRGIN ISLANDS - St.Croix Food and Wine Experience (Jane Watkins Publishing) WALES - Cooks and Kids, Alan Rudstad (Graffeg) ZAMBIA - The Safari Africa Cookbook, Roger Rory McKay, Alexandra Hurt (Gamefields)

For more information: Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Email: pilar@gourmandbooks.com Tel: +34-91541-6768 http://www.gourmand-magazine.com

SOURCE Gourmand Books

Unique night-flowering orchid found

An orchid that unfurls its petals at night and loses its christmas flowers netherlands blogs by day has been found on an island off the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The plant is the only known night-flowering orchid and was collected by botanists on a field trip to New Britain, an island in the Bismarck archipelago.

The flowers of the species, Bulbophyllum nocturnum, are thought to be pollinated by midges and last for only one night, according to a description of the plant published in the Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society.

Orchid specialist Ed de Vogel, from the Netherlands, discovered the unusual flowering after he gathered some of the plants from trees in a logging area on the island and returned home to cultivate the orchids at the Hortus Botanicus in Leiden. Most orchids are epiphytes, which means they take root on trees.

The botanist was particularly eager to see the orchid's flowers because it was a member of the Epicrianthes group of orchids. This group contains several species that have bizarre flowers with strange appendages, which often resemble leggy insects, small hairy spiders or intricate sea-creatures.

The appendages are usually attached by thin filaments, which allow them to move erratically in the slightest breeze.

As de Vogel cultivated the orchids, he noticed flower buds appear but instead of opening to reveal their petals, they simply shrivelled up and died. He finally realised what was happening when he took one of the plants home and saw its flowers open around 10pm one night and close again soon after sunrise.

Flowers that open only at night are seen in a small number of plant species, such as the queen of the night cactus, the midnight horror tree and night blooming jasmine. Bulbophyllum nocturnum is the only orchid among 25,000 species that is known to do so. Many orchids are pollinated by moths and other nocturnal insects, but have flowers that remain open during the day.

In 1862, Charles Darwin correctly predicted that the christmas flowers netherlands star orchid, which is endemic to Madagascar, was pollinated by a moth with a 30cm-long proboscis. The moth in question was not discovered until 20 years after his death.

The small orchid has yellow-green sepals that unfurl to reveal tiny petals adorned with dangling, greyish, thick and thin appendages. The flower, which is 2cm wide, has no noticeable smell, though some nocturnal species can time the release of their scents to attract night time pollinating insects.

Writing in the journal, the authors point out the striking resemblance between the flowers' appendages and the fruiting bodies of certain slime moulds found in the same part of the world. The similarity led the botanists to speculate that the orchids might be pollinated by midges that normally feed on slime moulds or small fungi.

André Schuiteman, an orchid specialist at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew said: "This is another reminder that surprising discoveries can still be made. But it is a race against time to find species like this that only occur in primeval tropical forests. As we all know, such forests are disappearing fast."

Botanists at Kew Gardens hope to get a cutting from the orchid in Leiden to cultivate within the next few years. A specimen preserved in alcohol is already held at the site's herbarium.