There are two major cookbook awards each year, including the James Beard Foundation which today listed the finalists for its competition. The winners will be announced on May 2.

A few weeks ago, the International Association of Culinary Professionals listed its nominees for its own cookbook awards. You can find them here in an earlier blog post.

The awards are a big deal for cookbook authors, even though the awards rarely make a difference in sales. They do, however, provide opportunity for authors and make future projects more do-able and with larger advances.

See if any of your favorites made this list. I found a few of mine.

2010 James Beard Nominees

American Cooking
"My New Orleans," by by John Besh
"Real Cajun," by Donald Link with Paula Disbrowe
"The Lee Bros. Simple Fresh Southern: Knockout Dishes with Down-Home Flavor," by Matt Lee, Ted Lee

Baking and Dessert
"Baking," by James Peterson
"DamGoodSweet: Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth, New Orleans Style," by David Guas, Raquel Pelzel
"Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day," by Peter Reinhart

Beverage
"Been Doon So Long: A Randall Grahm Vinthology," by Randall Grahm
"The King of Vodka: The Story of Pyotr Smirnov and the Upheaval of an Empire," by Linda Himelstein
"World Whisky," by Charles Maclean

Cooking from a Professional Point of View
"Araxi: Seasonal Recipes from the Celebrated Whistler Restaurant," by James Walt
"Momofuku," by David Chang, Peter Meehan
"The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Pastry Arts," by The French Culinary Institute with Judith Choate

General Cooking
"Ad Hoc at Home," by Thomas Keller
"Salt to Taste: The Keys to Confident, Delicious Cooking," by Marco Canora with Catherine Young
"The Pleasures of Cooking for One," by Judith Jones

Healthy Focus
"EatingWell Comfort Foods Made Healthy," by Jesse Price, the Editors of EatingWell
"Golden Door Cooks at Home: Favorite Recipes from the Celebrated Spa," by Dean Rucker with Marah Stets
"Love Soup: 160 All-New Vegetarian, Recipes from the Author of The Vegetarian Epicure," by Anna Thomas

International
"Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy," by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, Tanya Bastianich Manuali
"Mastering the Art of Chinese Cooking," by Eileen Yin-Fei Lo
"The Country Cooking of Ireland," by Colman Andrews

Photography
"Eat Ate," Photographer: Earl Carter
"New American Table," Photographer: Paul Brissman
"Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way," Photographer: Santiago Solo Monllor

Reference and Scholarship
"Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States," by Andrew Coe
"Encyclopedia of Pasta," by Oretta Zanini de Vita, Translated by: Maureen B. Fant
"Larousse Gastronomique: The World's Greatest Culinary Encyclopedia, Completely Revised and Updated," by Librarie Larousse

Single Subject
"Pasta Sfoglia," by Ron Suhanosky, Colleen Suhanosky
"Weber's Way to Grill," by Jamie Purviance
"Well-Preserved: Recipes and Techniques for Putting Up Small Batches of Seasonal Foods," by Eugenia Bone

Writing and Literature
"Save the Deli," by David Sax
"The Seasons on Henry's Farm: A Year of Food and Life on a Sustainable Farm," by Terra Brockman
"Waste: Uncovering the Global Food Scandal," by Tristram Stuart