Top award for cookbook

Our new Well Being Cookbook for cancer patients has come top in the Northern Ireland heat of the prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook awards.

The unique cookbook was also shortlisted for the Best Health Book in the World and Best Charity Book in the World categories.

The Gourmand Awards celebrate global cookbook and wine book publishing and feature many world renowned food writers each year. This is the first year there has been a Northern Ireland section.

Authors

The Well Being Cookbook was written by former TV chef Jeanne Rankin and Cancer Focus NI staff members Deirdre Conlon and Niamh McDaid. It’s packed with need-to-know tips to help cancer patients during treatment, with their recovery and to help them stay well in the future, and is also great for anyone who just wants to stay healthy.

Edouard Cointreau, from the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, said: “Thank you for this wonderful book, and for the hope you bring to many people. Members of the jury consider it as a reference book for the future.”

Deirdre Conlon, Care Services Manager, Cancer Focus NI, said: “We are delighted to have won the Northern Ireland section of this competition and we’re very excited that our book went forward for the Gourmand world cookbook awards. We never expected it to be this successful.

Simple recipes

“Our aim was to write a book that would encourage cancer patients to try out simple recipes with tasty ingredients when they are feeling unwell. There are recipes for those who find it hard to swallow, spicy food for those who have lost their palate due to their cancer treatment, and energy boosting recipes.

“The most important thing is to keep up your strength, which may mean changing your diet. The information and recipes in our book help in a practical way to eat well and keep up energy levels.”

Relaxation tips

The cookbook contains useful tips on nutrition, food labelling, food safety and store cupboard basics. Jeanne, who is a yoga specialist, has also created a special section on breathing and relaxation techniques to help calm the mind, create an inner peacefulness and de-stress the body.

Recipes include old favourites such as hearty vegetable soup and salmon and leek tart along with quinoa salad, vegetable frittata, blueberry pancakes and chai tea.

Try these taster recipes:

 Baked pear     Tuna steak with salsa      Spicy Sweet Potato 

You can buy your copy, costing £9.95, online now or order a copy by contacting us on care@cancerfocusni.org or 028 9066 3281.