TV chef Fernsehkoch Chakall greets Book Fair goers in Frankfurt’s 2015 Gourmet Gallery. Image: Frankfurter Buchmesse, Marc Jacquemin
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
One of the Most-Visited Halls of the Fair
Calling food a “global language,” Frankfurt Book Fair organizers have announced scheduled events in the trade show’s Gourmet Gallery.A fair-within-a-fair, “the place to be a foodie” features 1,000 square meters of space dedicated to the displays of some 80 exhibitors from more than 20 countries, all focused on cookbooks, in Hall 3.1.
Newcomer nations to the roster of Gourmet Gallery exhibitors this year include Jamaica, Kurdistan, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, the USA, Japan, and Sweden. The overall presentation is expected to feature around 1,000 titles. The most active part of the scene, of course, is the Show Kitchen and Gourmet Salon, staged in a partnership with Gourmand International, the company behind the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards.
It may surprise visitors from the USA that cooks in Germany haven’t traditionally used measuring cups. Their popularity is growing, according to a news release from the Book Fair, and this is to be reflected in a baking event with Birgit Wenz of Becherkueche.de, in the Show Kitchen on the Fair’s Sunday, October 23.
At 11.30 a.m. on that day, the program will also feature Nadia Qani’s ZAN society, the intent of which is to promote Afghan women’s rights. Once a month, Qani cooks and eats together with refugees in Offenbach am Main and in this instance, she’ll do so at Frankfurt’s Gourmet Salon.
At the 2015 Frankfurt Book Fair Gourmet Gallery. Image: Frankfurter Buchmesse, Nurettin Çiçek
More notable moments flagged by organizers include:
- The Gourmet Gallery opening, 6 p.m. Wednesday, October 19, featuring wines from Fattoria La Vialla and Vins de Bordeaux and food by chef Guy de Vries of the Landhaus Mönchenwerth.
- A business breakfast in Hall 3.1’s Show Kitchen, L99, at 9 a.m. Thursday, October 20, with the organic and natural foods company Davert
- Guided tours of the Gourmet Gallery for industry visitors on all trade three days of the fair, October 19, 20, and 21, at noon, beginning at L135 in Hall 3.1. Registration is available here.
- LOKAL’s Simon Tress and Georg Schweisfurth demonstrate the use of “high value products from organic agriculture and humane livestock keeping” on October 20 at 4:15 p.m. in the Show Kitchen.
- Vegan food personality Sophia Hoffmann will talk to representatives of Davert about “Sustainability as a topic in social networks” on October 22 at 2 p.m.
- Tim Mälzer is to present Die Küche (The Kitchen), said to be his “most personal cookbook” to date, showing how he prepares “simple dishes from German and international cuisine” on October 22 at 5:30 p.m.
- Young people get a chance to do some baking in the Show Kitchen on October 23 at 10 a.m. when Becherkueche.de gets busy with those measuring cups.
Miele is the premium partner of the Gourmet Gallery, as it has been since 2011.
The Frankfurter Buchmesse site has more information on the Gourmet Gallery here.
‘Resilient Agriculture’ Benefits From New Quarto Cookbook
In other international cookbook news, Quarto Publishing Group USA has announced that profits from its latest Burgess Lea Press cookbook are to be donated to the Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture.
The Burgess Lea Press imprint traditionally donates 100 percent of its profits to 501(c)3 organizations (non-profits) which focus on hunger relief, farmland preservation, and culinary education.
Dean Carlson is the author of Field & Feast, the new title, which features 100 recipes from the restaurant at Wyebrook Farm, Pennsylvania. Stone Barns Center, according to a news release from Quarto, is focused on developing “a culture of eating based on what farms need to grow to build healthy soil and a resilient ecosystem.”
In its prepared statement, Quarto says that Stone Barns “experiments with and improves sustainable farming practices; trains beginning farmers in resilient, regenerative farming techniques; helps children discover the sources of their food while preparing them to steward the land that provides it; and increases public awareness of healthy, seasonal, and sustainable food.”