Rachel Neiman
May 17, 2013, Updated May 15, 2013

Clay McLachlan is a photojournalist based in Sausalito, California and Piedmont, Italy, who has a passion for food, wine, and traveling.

His work has taken him to over 30 countries on assignment with images published in such magazines as Gourmet, Food and Wine, Departures, Town and Country, Wine Spectator, Time, People, Sports Illustrated, ESPN, Decanter, Sunset, Wine Enthusiast, Wine Country Living, Wine and Spirits, Saveur, Boston Globe Sunday Magazine, Washington Post, and the New York Times, as well as numerous books.

McLachlan’s most recent book project brought him to Israel and Tel Aviv’s celebrated seafood restaurant, Mul Yam. Together with publisher À Point Books and designer Dan Alexander & Co., the cookbook, Seafoodpedia, won the “Fish and Seafood” category in the 2013 Gourmand Festival du Livre Culinaire (World Cookbook Awards) — also known as “the Oscars of art cookbooks.”

This is the first time that an Israeli book has won first place in what is considered the most prestigious competition of its kind in the world. The judges made note of the photographic quality, concept and design, describing Seafoodpedia as “the most comprehensive guide book published in recent years in the field of fish and seafood.” 

According to Dan Alexander & Co., which was responsible for the design concept and production of the book, “Seafoodpedia is a complete guide to fish and seafood: recipes, dishes and savory seaside stories.”

“This book is dedicated to the geography of the seas and the mythology of marine cuisine. It charters the high tides’ relationship with the elite kitchen, culminating in the Mul Yam story – a fantasy, a voyage of the select few inspired by the sirens of the sea and their song.

“Recipe chapters and accompanying photographs reflect a deep commitment to the ancient ways of the sea: fish, seafood, carving, temperature, broth. All that rises fresh and lush on the foam of the waves today, is brought ashore and onto the plate.”

“The photographs in the book are from Israel and France, taken at the brink of dawn on the shores of Normandy and Bretagne, in Paris markets and in Mul Yam’s kitchen at the port of Tel Aviv.”

The book, currently available in Hebrew and English, is a comprehensive index “for the elite cuisine enthusiasts, tourists of the high foods and all fish lovers, and is intended to serve them as a culinary guide, a form of an encyclopedia, dedicated to the culture of the sea,its markets and many dishes.”

For more Seafoodpedia photos — as well as other breathtaking images from around the globe — visit Clay McLachlan’s website. For a glimpse into the Festival du Livre Culinaire, enjoy this YouTube clip.

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