At long last, the second round of The Piglet Tournament of Cookbooks is here! Couldn’t wait another second, could you?
While Tim Gunn never got to be a judge on Project Runway, he gets to be today! He has the mighty task of choosing between Bangkok and BraveTart. One snag, though: He’s not really a baker.
Read the full judgment here.
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Got questions? We have answers.
What is the Piglet?
Which books are in the running?
How do I catch up on judgments?
Is there a handy bracket for me to follow along with?
What's this giveaway you speak of?
The Piglet—inspired by The Morning News' Tournament of Books—is where the 16 most notable cookbooks of the year face off in a NCAA-style bracketed tournament. Watch the action and weigh in on the results!
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Written by: Food52
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6 Comments
ChefJune
March 26, 2018
I'm a fan of Tim Gunn, but if he's not a baker, why would you ask him to judge a baking book? If that were my book, I'd be pretty upset.
Or were you just looking for famous judges?
Or were you just looking for famous judges?
Joanna S.
March 26, 2018
Hi June! For the first round, we do devise the book matchups and select the books for each judge. But after the first round, which books each judge receives is based on what previous judges decided to advance and so it's out of our control—such is the nature of this bracket-style competition. And each year, we feature a mix of judges who come at home cooking topics from a variety of entry points. I hope this answers your questions!
Rhonda35
March 26, 2018
A good baking book should be approachable by skilled and novice bakers alike. Same with a well-written cookbook - the whole point of this genre of books is to guide readers of all skill levels so they can successfully reproduce the recipes at home. If you read Mr. Gunn's review, you will know that he did just fine with his baking attempts from BraveTart. (Not a spoiler if you haven't read the review.)
Nancy
March 27, 2018
Also, one comment (can't find it now), harshly criticized Mr Gunn for not finding ingredients in NYC (mecca of food marts). But I thought that was part of the charm and honesty of the review...Gunn didn't know or care to find them, substituted and/or omitted and then found himself in trouble. Maybe that includes an implied note to reader: abandon hope on this recipe if you don't get the right ingredients; remember you can shop by mail & web.
Greenstuff
March 26, 2018
This was not the matchup I expected from the bracket I printed out at the start of competition. Can you point us to the updates?
Joanna S.
March 26, 2018
Sorry for the error! Here's the updated bracket:
https://food52.com/the-piglet/2018/bracket
https://food52.com/the-piglet/2018/bracket
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