New Writing Conferences Offer a Window into the Publishing World for Culinary Professionals

The world is moving at an ever faster pace, in large part thanks to the explosion of information on the Internet and the impact of the digital technology. As a result, culinary professionals in every market have to now struggle with the new task of writing about their profession as well as being part of it.

Many chefs, who spent a lifetime mastering the skills of the kitchen, are extremely uncomfortable with this contemporary trend. However, where there's a need, there's an answer, thanks in large part to the insight of creative companies, such as Amazon, that deal daily with writers, editors AND the new world of digital publications. 

These state-of-the-art firms are most easily located at conferences, saving the attendees both time and money as the availability of the information offered is focused and concentrated.

The Northwest Bookfest is one such conference, where the topics range from an exploration of Amazon Kindle's Direct Publishing programs by Thomas Kephart to understanding how to manage a writing project using Evernote by Viv Ilo E Veith. Other workshops explain how to conduct a successful interview as well as how to protect one’s legal rights in the digital world.

And the list goes on and on. ThisNovember 2-3 Conference is just another reason why many creative culinary professionals enjoy calling the Northwest home.  If creativity is about being ready to learn new skills, here’s your chance. See you there!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013

Shackleton’s Rare Whisky Returns Home to Antarctica

Reflecting the modern awareness of archeology to respect and preserve, three bottles of Mackinlay’s Rare Old Malt Whisky, that once belonged to the polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, have been returned to their original home beneath the dusty floorboards of the Shackleton’s hut on chilly Ross Island in Antarctica.

The three unopened bottles, first sealed shut in 1898, were flow from Scotland, where in 2011 a small sample of their content was carefully drawn out via a syringe and analyzed.

Mackinlay’s Master Blender Richard Paterson, after long months of painstaking work in Scotland, recreated the forgotten whisky.

The initial 50,000 boxed offering of his reproduction sold out almost immediately at $150 per bottle. Five percent of the purchase price benefited the Antarctic Heritage Trust, generating over$400,000!

Hearing the cry of whisky lovers worldwide, who were unable to obtain a bottle, Whyte & Mackay has now released a second whisky inspired by the rare Shackleton find.

Labeled The Journey, it, too, is a blend of different malts that replicates the original. And once again, a percentage of the profits will be donated to the Antarctic Heritage Trust.

But the story doesn’t end there. Random House New Zealand is now publishing a new eBook that documents the whisky’s amazing travels from the Highlands to the Arctic ice and back again.

Entitled Shackleton's Whisky: A Spirit of Discovery: Ernest Shackleton's 1907 Antarctic Expedition, and the Rare Malt Whisky He Left Behind, it is easily available to readers everywhere via Kindle.

So sit back and enjoy. For where else can you hold a historic whisky in one hand and a modern digital reader in the other and know they truly belong together. 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2013