The HotHive is thrilled to announce that one of its author, James McIntosh, has won the highly prestigious Gourmand World Cookbook Award for Best Series of Food Books in the World.

The award was announced on 1 July in Paris at Comedie Francaise in Paris.

James, who is from Northern Ireland, is not only an award-winning food writer and excellent cook but a highly qualified home economist. This means that he is genuinely qualified to provide sound advice on food nutrition, lifestyle, and home matters alike. This fantastic award confirms him as the leading food expert in the UK for 2009.

The main objective of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards is to reward and honour those who "cook with words" and to help readers find the very best of food and wine books published every year. This year there were approximately 8,000 entries for the awards and entries from 29 countries for James's category. Edouard Cointreau, president of the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards, explains that mix. stands out from other entries.

"We selected mix. and the series because of its innovative concept; it really helps the readers with practical easy recipes and shows them how to learn the basics. These four small books are just as important as the big books by Blumenthal, Robuchon as they correspond exactly to the needs of today's home cooks: they are cheap, they are practical and they really do work."

To view the presentation of the award click here.

Click here to buy James's award-winning book.

The second title in the series, dinner., is now available.

Forthcoming titles include veg. and cake., to be published on 1 September 2009.

For more information on James and his work go to www.jamesmcintosh.co.uk

For more information on the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards go to www.cookbookfair.com