 His column was particularly concerned with exploring current issues and anxieties about food production and manufacture.In 2001 he was described by Germaine Greer as 'the greatest living food writer'.He has received many awards for his food writing, including the Guild of Food Writers Michael Smith Award, the André Simon Memorial Fund Special Award, the Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the Best Culinary History Book in the World, and the Glenfiddich Cookery Writer of the Year Award.