TODAY: Cook Italy vs. Heart of the Artichoke, judged by Corby Kummer

TODAY: A Cook's Journey to Japan vs. Thai Street Food, judged by CHRIS COSENTINO

TODAY: Frankies vs. Urban Pantry, judged by Lockhart Steele

Voting is now closed! Stay tuned to find out which books make it into the wildcard round...

This year we want your help! Vote for the Wildcard entry for 2010 Cookbook of the Year by next Wednesday, September 29th.

On Monday night, we hosted the Piglet Party to celebrate the Tournament of Cookbooks on food52. There was food and drink and even a little controversy during the panel discussion. For those of you who joined us, thank you for coming -- we enjoyed meeting you! And for those of you who couldn't make it, there's always next year! In the meantime, here's a slideshow of the evening (click on the photo to get to it), photographed by our own Sarah Shatz. 

16 of the best cookbooks of 2009. 17 talented and opinionated judges.

1 prize: the coveted Piglet Trophy.

FINAL ROUND

Tonight we hosted the Piglet Party, where we presented both the People's Choice Award, and the official Piglet trophy. We tallied your votes for the final round, and although the totals were only 15 votes apart, the People's Choice Award goes to Seven Fires.

And as for the Piglet itself, the trophy goes to...

Congratulations to Francis Mallman and Peter Kaminsky, who accepted the Piglet tonight on behalf of both authors.

The final round was judged by Nora Ephron.

Read the complete decision HERE.

We had a great time reading all of the judges' decisions, as well as your comments along the way. Thanks so much to the authors and judges, and to all of you for participating in the first ever Tournament of Cookbooks. We're already looking forward to next year!

- Amanda, Merrill and Charlotte

16 of the best cookbooks of 2009. 17 talented and opinionated judges.

1 prize: the coveted Piglet Trophy.

Bet you thought we were going to announce the winner today, huh? Not so fast -- we want to hear what you think! Between now and Monday, post your votes (for Canal House Cooking or Seven Fires) in the comments section below. We'll tally them up and then announce the People's Choice Award, along with Nora Ephron's final decision, at the Piglet Party Monday, November 9th at Astor Center in New York (for tickets, go HERE). Nora Ephron's full decision will be posted on food52 at midnight on Monday.

The Food: Momofuku pork buns, Seven Fires grilled salmon, Canal House spareribs, I Loved, I Lost meatballs, Helen's Spicy Shrimp, Babycakes brownies, Momofuku pork buns, and more!

The Booze: Prosecco and lots o' wine.

The Talk: Gail Simmons moderates a panel discussion with Gabrielle Hamilton (judge), Peter Meehan (Momofuku), Peter Kaminsky (Seven Fires: Grilling the Argentine Way), Christopher Hirsheimer and Melissa Hamilton (Canal House Cooking (Volume N° 1)).

The When: Monday, November 9

The Where: Astor Center, 399 Lafayette Street

The Time: 6:30 to 9:30 pm.

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Event sponsored by:

16 of the best cookbooks of 2009. 17 talented and opinionated judges.

1 prize: the coveted Piglet Trophy.

WILDCARD ROUND: DECISION TWO

Judged by: Grant Achatz