Readers vote with their tastebuds

The public have voted a cookbook by Viva food editor Julie Le Clerc as the Readers' Choice in the annual Montana Book Awards.

Made in Morocco: A Journey of Exotic Tastes and Places, written in conjunction with John Bougen, explores Le Clerc's love of Middle Eastern food, sparked partly by her part-Lebanese heritage and her love of the region's intense flavours, which she enjoys bringing to a wider audience.

Last year the Readers' Choice Award went to historian Michael King's Penguin History of New Zealand.

Le Clerc's latest cookbook, vivafood, is lavishly illustrated like her Moroccan book, and is also published by Penguin. It features a collection of her favourite recipes from her weekly food pages in the Herald's Viva section each Wednesday. Some of the vivafood recipes, including her current winter favourite, Spicy Fish Stew, also have a Moroccan flavour.

* Viva's acting editor Fiona Hawtin has also picked up an award, her fourth Jasmine Award for beauty writing from the Cosmetic, Toiletries and Fragrances Association. It is the fourth win for Hawtin.