Absolute Press

Absolute Press was founded by Jon Croft in 1979 and began by publishing collections of recipes from the UKs top chefs. Whilst today this seems par for the course for many food publishers, at the time it was a radical move " most chefs didnt want to let go of their secrets, but they revealed them to Absolute Press and with them we formed many wonder... ful collections of recipes in these early years. In 1981, Absolute Press published Keith Floyds first cookery book, followed by two more in conjunction with BBC Books, both of which went on to become number 1 bestsellers. Keith Floyd became the first true celebrity chef: a real landmark moment in food publishing and the restaurant world and one which shaped so much that came after in those two respective worlds. In 1994, we published the first of the many titles in the Traditional Aga Cookery series by Louise Walker. It went on to become a bestseller and continues to sell strongly today. Aga and Range cookery is a publishing strand in which we have published and sold in volume and in which we have led the way for many, many years. In 1998, we acquired the rights to publish a UK edition of the US title, Mexican Kitchen, a James Beard Best Book Award winner, and the absolute Bible on Mexican food, which no book has surpassed since. It was to be the first of many significant American buy-ins over the years, which would include the award-winning and universally praised The Cook and The Gardener, by The New York Times food critic, Amanda Hesser, and the absolutely charming Mort Rosenblum book, Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit. These big-hitting, groundbreaking American books steadily began to form an important part of our list, most recently evidenced by last years massive publishing events " Momofuku and The Balthazar Cookbook, books from two of the most highly regarded chefs in the world. 1998 also saw another huge publishing event with the release of The Christies World Encyclopedia of Champagne & Sparkling Wine by Tom Stevenson, one of the worlds leading ...Read More