As one GalleyCat editor wondered about dinner, the 2009 James Beard Foundation Awards Nominees were announced this afternoon.

Since 1990, the foundation has given awards for excellence in the food and beverage industry. Nominations for the prestigious foodie awards were made in many categories, including Broadcast Media, Journalism, Book Awards, Design and Graphics, and Restaurant and Chef.

The awards include 11 different categories for tasty books. Here are your writing and literature nominees: “In Defense of Food” by Michael Pollan (The Penguin Press); “Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China” by Fuchsia Dunlop (W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.); and “Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef” by Betty Fussell (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt). (Via Times Online)