First-time cook­book au­thor Kim­ber­ly For­rester has earned in­ter­na­tion­al recog­ni­tion with her de­but pub­li­ca­tion, Beets by Kim – 100 Beet­root Recipes, se­cur­ing nom­i­na­tions in two cat­e­gories at the 31st Gour­mand In­ter­na­tion­al World Cook­book Awards 2025. She is the on­ly en­trant from T&T to be nom­i­nat­ed in mul­ti­ple cat­e­gories this year.

Launched in 2024, Beets by Kim – 100 Beet­root Recipes has been short­list­ed in the cat­e­gories of Sin­gle Sub­ject (beets) and Caribbean Cui­sine, a rare dis­tinc­tion for a de­but au­thor.

The Gour­mand Awards, found­ed in 1995 by Edouard Coin­treau, are wide­ly re­gard­ed as the most pres­ti­gious culi­nary book awards in the world, of­ten de­scribed as the “Os­cars of food and drink cul­ture.”

“I am hum­bled and ho­n­oured to rep­re­sent Trinidad and To­ba­go on this glob­al plat­form,” said For­rester.

“This book was cre­at­ed to in­spire home cooks with fresh, vi­brant, and ac­ces­si­ble beet­root recipes that re­flect cre­ativ­i­ty, well­ness, and our Caribbean cul­ture. To have it recog­nised by Gour­mand in two cat­e­gories is an af­fir­ma­tion of that vi­sion,” she added.

For­rester joins a dis­tin­guished list of nom­i­nees from across the globe, stand­ing proud­ly along­side her fel­low T&T rep­re­sen­ta­tives at the 2025 awards.

Oth­er na­tion­al nom­i­nees in­clude The Im­preg­na­tion of Flavour by Chef Ja­son Pe­ru, Coo Coo Ve­g­an by Shayaa Mo­ham­mad, and Caribbean Herbal­ism by Ayesha Fras­er (Ulysses).

The win­ners of the 31st Gour­mand Awards will be an­nounced at the glob­al awards cer­e­mo­ny in No­vem­ber. For­rester plans to at­tend once fur­ther de­tails of the event are re­leased lat­er this month.

For­rester, a T&T-based cre­ative, well­ness ad­vo­cate, and food en­thu­si­ast, has been craft­ing de­lec­table dish­es for most of her life, and her pas­sion for cook­ing blos­somed in­to a thriv­ing meal prep and cater­ing busi­ness, Well­ness Kitchen by Kim, found­ed in Jan­u­ary 2019. Her first cook­book, Beets by Kim – 100 Recipes, re­flects her ded­i­ca­tion to sim­ple yet in­ven­tive recipes that cel­e­brate flavour, nu­tri­tion, and Caribbean cul­ture.