Colombian gastronomy has once again shone on the international stage. Two works that highlight the country’s traditional cuisines were awarded as the best in the world at the 2025 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, one of the most prestigious competitions dedicated to cookbooks and food culture. The winning titles celebrate Colombia’s culinary diversity, from the ancestral knowledge of the Pacific to the rural traditions of the department of Cordoba.
The two Colombian cookbooks recognized as the best in the world at the 2025 Gourmand Awards
Sabores de Resistencia
Colombian chef Rey Guerrero, one of the leading representatives of Pacific cuisine in Colombia, received the award for Best Afro-American Food Culture Book in the World for his work “Sabores de resistencia, la cocina de Rey Guerrero.”
This book, which blends research, memory, and tradition, pays tribute to the Afro-descendant cooks and communities that have preserved techniques, recipes, and rituals tied to the territory for generations.
The publication compiles emblematic preparations, oral stories, and ancestral knowledge that strengthen Afro-Colombian culinary identity. Its pages feature essential ingredients such as borojo, coconut, fresh fish, viche, and traditional garden herbs, elements that define the essence of Pacific gastronomy.
Beyond being a cookbook, Sabores de resistencia serves as a cultural archive that highlights the role of the Afro diaspora in the development of Colombian cuisine. The award granted by the Gourmand Awards underscores the importance of this work within a global context where traditional cuisines seek greater visibility and recognition.
For Guerrero, the distinction represents not only a boost to his career but also to the community efforts behind every preparation. It also places on the international map a region that has historically contributed creativity, flavor, and unique techniques to the country’s gastronomy.
Cocinas Campesinas de Cordoba
The second recognition for Colombia went to the book “Cocinas Campesinas de Cordoba, Colombia, Historia y Tradición,” a work that combines culinary research and documentary photography. The title received the award for Best Photography in a Cookbook Worldwide.
Created by researcher Ricardo Malagon and photographer and cook Jose Luis Rivera, the book captures the essence of traditional rural cuisine in Cordoba through images that portray the connection between territory, tradition, and food.
Its visual proposal was decisive in receiving the award: each photograph tells a story — from the manual preparation of a sancocho to the use of wood-fired stoves, native ingredients of the savanna, or the daily life of farmers who have preserved these practices.
The work compiles recipes and knowledge from different regions of the department — from the savanna plains to the coastal area — showing the cultural depth behind dishes made with cassava, yam, cheese, suero, fish, and local products. Part of its value lies in its aim to preserve culinary memory, give visibility to traditional cooks, and document a heritage that has been passed down through generations.
The authors highlight that the book seeks to contribute to the protection of rural knowledge at a time when such traditions face risks due to displacement, neglect, and the accelerated modernization of rural life.
Colombia gains prominence in the global gastronomic scene
The Gourmand World Cookbook Awards are considered the “Oscars” of cookbooks. Every year, thousands of publications from more than 200 countries are evaluated in categories that reward everything from gastronomic research to photography, editorial design, and cultural contributions.
This double triumph strengthens Colombia’s presence on the international gastronomic scene and reaffirms culinary diversity as a fundamental pillar of its cultural identity. Both Afro-Colombian Pacific cuisine and rural cuisine from Cordoba now find a new space for visibility, celebrating the richness that exists in the intersection of territory, history, and flavor.