Anna Del Cont� is widely recognised as the doyenne of Italian cooking. In 1987 she was awarded the prestigious Duchessa Maria Luigia di Parma prize for Gastronomy of Italy . Her books include Italian Kitchen , Cooking with Coco and The Classic Food of Northern Italy , which in 1996 won both The Guild of Food Writers Book Award and the Orio Vergani prize of the Accademia Italiana della Cucina.In 1994 Anna received the Premio Nazionale di Cultura Gastronomica Verdicchio d'Oro prize for her contribution to the dissemination of knowledge concerning authentic Italian cooking. In 2010 she was awarded the honour of Ufficiale dell'Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana in recognition of the… importance of her work in keeping alive Italy's good image in the UK. She was also awarded the Guild of Food Writers Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011.