AWARD WINNERS 2010

2010

 

The International Eckart Witzigmann Award is awarded in partnership with the state of Baden-Württemberg and Tourism Marketing GmbH Baden-Württemberg, who convey the topic of the land of connoiseurs in a particularly commited and successful way. The award winners in 2010 continue the series of outstanding award winners of the past five years, including Ferran Adrià, Marc Haeberlin, Thomas Keller, Frédy Girardet, Harald Wohlfahrt and Hiroyuki Hiramatsu, as well as Carlo Petrini, Günter Grass, Dieter Kosslick and Daniel Spoerri.

INNOVATION- PRIX D’EXCEPTION

HRH Prince Charles of Wales, Highgrove House

HRH Prince Charles of Wales is receiving the International Eckart Witzigmann Award 2010 for his outstanding contributions to sustainable agriculture and food production. He himself practices organic farming on his estates and is a champion of biological diversity and of the protection of natural resources. Through his patronage he has helped enable the breakthrough of the idea of Terra Madre, the global network of farmers, food artisans and gastronomes.
“There is no good kitchen without good, clean and fair products, and for this reason cooks all over the world owe him a debt of gratitude,” the certificate states.

To Prince Charles’ speech during the awards ceremony

Download (Der deutsche Text als PDF)

EXCELLENT CULINARY ART

Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena, ***Arzak, San Sebastián

Juan Mari Arzak and his daughter Elena jointly operate the Restaurant Arzak in the Basque city of San Sebastián. Juan Marie took over the restaurant in 1967; it was founded in 1897 by his grandfather. Prior to that he had learned from famous French chefs such as Bocuse, Troisgros, Senderens, Boyer and Arrambide gelernt. His daughter Elena later also worked in famous restaurants such as Gagnaire, Bras, El Bulli and Dutournier before returning.

CULTURAL TOPIC OF EATING IN LITERATURE, SCIENCE AND MEDIA

Vincent Klink, *Wielandshöhe, Stuttgart

Vincent Klink, chef with Michelin stars from the Wielandshöhe in Stuttgart, could also be honoured for his art of cookery, but the jury conferred him a different prize – the one for science and media. This pays tribute to his role as an opinionated communicator. The jury worded it thus: “Vincent Klink links in an outstanding and even wonderful way the craft of cooking with the crafts of writing, making music and providing television entertainment.”

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Cesare Giaccone, Albaretto della Torre

Cesare Giaccone has participated less in the hunt for stars and toques, but he is all the more a role model for many of the world’s great chefs. They have all made a pilgrimage to him at “Ristorante dei Cacciatori” in Alberetto della Torre, high above the vineyards of Barolo. As Thomas Keller, America’s number one chef and himself a award winner in 2006, says about him: “Cesare Giaccone is an extraordinary man with a unique culinary vision. His dishes are complex yet at the same time simple. His taste is unforgettable. Eating at his restaurant is a euphoric experience.”

ACCOMPLISHMENTS-PERFORMING ARTIST OF “COOKERY”

Dieter Krieg (posthum)

One can take literally the prize for the art of cookery: it is about art that has something to do with eating and drinking. Award winner Dieter Krieg is considered among the most important and at the same time most unconventional painters of the second half of the 20th century. He accorded everyday objects, particularly the edible, their due place in art. Thus the jury found there were good reasons to recollect him: “In his large-scale paintings Dieter Krieg often made life’s large and small things the subject of the pictures and in an ingenious and basically cunning painting illusion transferred them to the canvas: heads of lettuce, cauliflower, pieces of meat, blossoms, flowers, French fries, eggs sunny side up.”