British Library announces 2025 Food Season Awards winners
The British Library has announced the winners of its inaugural Food Season Awards celebrating narrative cookery writing, storytelling in cultural spaces, emerging voices in food writing, and the richness of the Library’s food related collections.
- Food Season Food Hero Award: The Courtyard Dairy cheesemonger Andy Swinscoe
- Food Season Food Stories Fellowship Award supported by Vittles: Stella Swain for her exploration of the Land Settlement Association farming scheme
- Food Season Food on Display Award: Dr Wall’s Dinner, Museum of Royal Worcester, Dyson Perrins Museum Trust
- Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award: The Balkan Kitchen by Irina Janakievska
Dr Polly Russell, Head of Eccles Institute for the Americas at the British Library and Food Season founder, said: ‘It is incredibly exciting to be announcing the winners of the very first British Library Food Season Food Awards. We set up the Awards to shine a light on the incredible work taking place across food publishing and in museums and archives and to recognise individuals who have really had an impact on food culture in the UK. In judging the Awards we were thrilled to work with Nadiya Hussain, the team at Vittles magazine, food historian Tasha Marks and chef Neil Forbes and we are excited to have had thousands of votes cast by the public to select the Food Awards Food Hero.’
The 2025 British Library Food Season Awards were judged by chef and author Nadiya Hussain, Head of Eccles Institute for the Americas at the British Library and Food Season founder, Dr Polly Russell, award-winning food writers and Food Season co-directors, Angela Clutton and Melissa Thompson. The Vittles Magazine editorial team, chef Neil Forbes and food historian Tasha Marks joined as guest judges.
The British Library’s Food Season 2025 is sponsored by Miele.
Food Season Food Hero Award: Andy Swinscoe
Andy Swinscoe, cheese expert, communicator, Affineur and owner of The Courtyard Dairy in Austwick, North Yorkshire, is presented the Food Season Hero Award.
The judges said: ‘As a successful cheesemonger, Swinscoe has built a business that is an important platform for farmhouse producers to sell cheese and tell their story, becoming a lifeline for the many small family farms he works with. From opening a museum telling the history of cheese, through to organising experimental collaborations of cheesemakers and advising farmers how to improve the quality of what they do, Swinscoe is adding much needed energy and innovation to one of most important and delicious foods in the UK.’
Food Season Food Stories Fellowship Award supported by Vittles: Stella Swain
Stella Swain is granted the Food Season Food Stories Fellowship Award, which will fund Swain to spend at least two weeks with the British Library’s collection to inform an article that will be published in Vittles magazine. Swain’s suggested article offers an exploration of British farming in contemporary food culture, informed by an investigation into the 1934-1939 Land Settlement Association Government Scheme.
The judges said: ‘We were immediately interested in how this entry intends to tackle such an unwieldy topic as land use, using a personal connection to an underwritten-about government scheme to discuss what it might teach us about land use today, and the timely topics of farmers protests and the green transition.’
Food Season Food on Display Award: Dr Wall’s Dinner, Museum of Royal Worcester, Dyson Perrins Museum Trust
The Food Season Food on Display Award has been given to Dr Wall’s Dinner at the Museum of Royal Worcester, Dyson Perrins Museum Trust for the most innovative, engaging and exciting deployment of food in an exhibition.
Dr Wall’s Dinner is an immersive exhibit showcasing 18th-century Georgian dining culture, featuring a meticulously recreated table with Worcester porcelain, historically accurate food models by artist K.S. Boyes, and research by food historian Dr. Neil Buttery.
The judges said: ‘We were all drawn to the detail and creativity of Dr Wall’s Dinner at the Museum of Royal Worcester. The display and accompanying programme explored several interesting narratives around Georgian Dining, in a way that was both educational and visually striking. It was a wonderful example of how food can be used to animate a collection and reach different audiences.’
Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award: The Balkan Kitchen by Irina Janakievska
The British Library Food Season Narrative Cookery Book Award celebrates a recipe book with a descriptive focus to showcase the power of food, cooking, stories, histories and cultures. In The Balkan Kitchen, Irina Janakievska goes beyond cooking instructions to connect food to the wider world through the vast and varied dishes and cultural heritage of the Balkan region.
The Food Season Award judges said: ‘The Balkan Kitchen is a rich, engaging, and important cookbook that celebrates the food of a geographically, historically, and culturally diverse region that has been previously overlooked. Irina Janakievska's meticulously researched debut is full of heart and history, with recipes enriched by compelling stories.’
Notes to editors
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About Miele
For more than 125 years, Miele has lived up to its brand promise of “Immer Besser” in terms of quality, innovation and timeless elegance. Founded in 1899, the globally active company for premium domestic appliances inspires customers with pioneering solutions for the connected home. In addition, Miele offers appliances, systems and services for commercial use, such as in hotels or care facilities as well as in medical technology. With its durable and energy-saving appliances, Miele helps its customers make their daily lives as sustainable as possible. The company is owned by the two founding families, Miele and Zinkann. In the 2024 business year, Miele generated a turnover of 5.04 billion Euros with approximately 23,500 employees. Its global network comprises 19 production plants and around 50 service and sales subsidiaries (as of February 2025). In the UK, there are Miele Experience Centres in Abingdon, London (Wigmore Street and Mayfair), Bluewater, Brent Cross, Solihull, Cambridge and Edinburgh.
About Vittles
Vittles is a food and culture magazine based in the UK and India. At Vittles, we think about food as economy, class, inheritance, and political agency, rather than just a dish on a table. We publish essays about all aspects of food culture, from deep dives to polemics, from personal essays to reported journalism, as well as restaurant recommendations, recipes, and reviews.