In 1995, Duncan Markham swore off buying more cookbooks after reaching a grand total of fifteen. Thirteen years and a broken promise later, he owns more than 300 and still battles the desire to acquire in every language. His interest doesn’t stop at cooking and many of his gastronomic books feed his interest in food culture and history. As a contributor to the prize-winning Epicure section of The Age newspaper in Melbourne from 2003 to 2006 he was awarded Highly Commended in the Best New Writer Category of the 2004 Vittoria Australian Food Media Awards. Today he continues to write about various food-related topics on his website, Syrup and Tang.

When Mark Manguerra was just a toddler he leafed through The Betty Crocker Encyclopedia of Cooking all day long, fantasizing about the cakes and pies he would eventually learn to bake. Today he spends his spare time scouring through new and used bookstores in search of new classics: perfect blends of good chefs and good instructions. He also enjoys writing and rewriting recipes, which he regularly posts on his blog, No Special Effects, which won the 2008 Philippine Blog Award for Best Food Blog.

You can contact us using the contact page, and read more about the goals of The Gastronomer’s Bookshelf over here.