What's your favorite food magazine?

[Jenise]

Currently, and for some time now, I've enjoyed Saveur above and beyond all the others. In fact, it and Cooks Illustrated are currently the only two I get as I did not renew Food & Wine which I took for a year or two. Just couldn't take the Sex and the City, fashionista sensibility any more, the vibe that if I'm not folding my souffle in my Jimmy Choos with a Williams & Sonoma designer spoon, then I'm not really making souffle. Or something like that.

Where Saveur is only about the food, or at least the food and the place and the cook, but the food is really the star. As compared to the last issue of Food and Wine I looked at, which included a piece about Bobby Flay and his wife checking out the restaurant scene in Savannah. And it went something like, "Bobby, in a Hugo Beefcake For Men shirt and Armani slacks, and his wife in head-to-toe Prada, started their day with breakfast at...." I'm sorry, but I just can't take that Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous approach to food seriously.

I completely agree with you about the few issues of Food & Wine I've glanced through in the last year or so. Food Light. I'm just not interested.

Saveur is my fave, no question. I really like the food porn photography, the recipes work, and I find the articles about the places and the culture around the food very interesting.

I've just started a subscription to Eating Well. I've made some good recipes from their website, so I thought I'd give it a try. Haven't gotten the first issue yet.

My best friend gets Cooks Illustrated so I don't have to.

I'm not a person who usually has a favorite of anything, but the magazine I really get excited about when it comes is Cuisine at Home. It is small, comes punched with three ring binder holes, strictly food, no ads....none!
Pictures are great, explanations are short and to the point. Website usually has the video you can watch and learn about the prep, such as, how to bone out a turkey breast, pound, stuff, roll and tie.
Food is not complicated, but every recipe is something I'd make.
Right now, I subscribe to Cooking Light and Bon Appetit. I've gone through many cooking magazines and these are the ones that stay with me.

Saveur and Cook's Illustrated pretty much do it for me. I subscribed to Food & Wine and Bon Appetit but they don't quite do it for me. I also get Sunset and I like a lot of the recipes they have.

Cook's Illustrated is definitely my favorite. I also get Food and Wine and ITA with you Jenise...I wasn't going to renew it this yr, but my husband renewed it as a gift for Christmas.

I never heard of Saveur. I will have to check it out!

On a side note, I was about to renew my subscription to Cook's when I noticed that the renewal price was $28.95. But the subscription cards inside the magazine say, "Subscribe for $24.95". WTH? So, I didn't renew and just sent in one of the subscription cards. I know it's only $4.00, but it's the principle. I should be paying less to renew, not more. (And, it's not an introductory rate...that's $19.95)

When I renew magazines, I go to their websites to see what they offer. Usually, a deal is on so I order online. I just went through this with one of my cooking magazines. The snail mail bill that came said 24.00 for one year. I got an online deal for two years for the same price. You have to watch that you don't check some sort of small box telling them they can charge your card automatically the next due date.

Hmmm Karen...I never thought to look online. I will definitely do that next time. Thanks for the tip about the credit card. Although, when it comes to subscriptions, I almost always pay via check.

Saveur and Cooks Illustrated, here -- I use the online version of CI and give the hard copy to the library.

I've liked the Rosengarten Reports but he's been flogging so much food and travel recently, he's losing credibility.

I also enjoy John Thorne's Simple Cooking and a couple of other literary oriented food pubs.

Saveur (for many years now). Cut out recipes, toss the rest.

Bon Appetit - also for many years - I like some recipes and ignore the rest. Keep all the issues (running out of room)

Gourmet - about every other year when they offer me a special offer for pennies an issue because I am a lapsed subscriber - and the covers look nice in the waiting room.

for a commercial type magazine i like Saveur - except that they always overcook stuff. (5 minutes for shrimp? - give me a brick)

but i REALLY love The Art of Eating. that is the best.

I only read food magazines if they happen to be in the waiting room at the doctor's office. However, one of our local supermarkets, Wegmans, sends me a "Menu" magazine every two months or so and it usually has some pretty interesting recipes. It's almost as much fun to read as the monthly Premier Liquor ad I receive, which usually has a picture of Ed Draves drinking Riesling.

I try to get only one cooking magazine per year, and I switch up from time to time. I find I usually return to Bon Appetite. Right now I am receiving Cuisine at Home. Love the fact that there are no ads and the food features. I was reeled in when I got a special issue as an introduction and they featured SALT -- my favorite food group! I also subscribe to Cooks Illustrated, but there is something about the snobbery of it that irritates me a bit. (Have you ever seen Christopher Kimball on their tv show roll his eyes and toss a fork or spoon with disgust when he has test-tasted what he considers an inferior product? Like he's never prepared a bad meal.) Besides, I don't like their new format, with all black and white photos, showing color photos in thumbnial on the back panel with a summary of the recipes. And I don't like the obviously recycled paper. At almost $30/yr per (6 issues) subscription, give me color and cut down a tree! I was one of those who didn't notice the box that charges your debit/credit card automatically each year. This year I made a calendar note to myself to cancel the subscription. There is not a cancellation option online for the magazine! Live and Learn.

P.S. -- if you are as much into salt as I am, you may want to check out the website for Saltworks.

I'm a Saveur fan, too.
Not crazy about Cook's Illustrated - as I've said before - they take art and analyze it to death. I do subscribe though.

One with which you may not be familiar is Food Arts - a mag directed to food professionals.
The subscription is free of charge - you can check out their website.
Those non food pros who don't have a problem stretching the truth can subscribe at the site.

[Robin Garr]

Coming late to this great thread now that I'm home, I realize in reading over it that I just don't have a favorite food magazine, and that really the Internet has pretty much replaced mags-on-paper in my affections.

Years ago, I loved both <i>Gourmet</i> and <i>Bon Appetit</i> - and Bon App's Hank Rubin, who wrote practical, consumer-oriented Q&A stuff about wine while his associate A. Dias Blue was nattering on windily, was a real model for me. But either I grew away from them or they grew away from me. I haven't taken a look at either for years. I loved <I>Cooks Illustrated</I> for a while but got very tired of it eventually. I actually kind of liked their "try a zillion alternatives and see what works" option, but it seemed to me that they started running out of ideas and running less interesting, less competent stuff. Meanwhile, Publisher Kimball's editorial stuff got more and more self-indulgent and less interesting; they started heavily spamming in both E-mail and postal, and they never did have much of a commitment to wine, dropping off from Bittman's poor column to no column at all.

<I>Food & Wine</i> never did appeal to me - it reminded me of a foodie version of <I>Wine Enthusiast</i>.

And I've just plain never understood <I>Saveur</i>. The only word I can come up with to describe its writing is "precious," and I find it hard to get past the articles to check out the recipes. A lot of you think highly of them ... maybe I should give that another shot?

I picked up a free copy of Fine Cooking, published by the same folks who do Fine Woodworking, etc. The recipes and photos looked great, so I tried a bunch of them--and they were outstanding with one exception, a Butterflied Chicken Dijon Grilled on a Bed of Thyme that, surprisingly, had little flavor.

The magazine also introduced me to edamame, which I now prepare on occasion. It's a beautiful green and looks good on a plate. Taste and texture is similar to lima beans.

My favorite has long been Fine Cooking. It's educational, for folks who really cook, and the recipes are often very good indeed. I learn something from each issue. Not one of those glitzy lifestyle magazines that focuses on restaurants, like Gourmet.
cheers, Bonnie

Having read through everyone's faves, I'll cast my vote for my top two: Cooking Light and Bon Appetit. I got a year's worth of Cooks Illustrated, and like it well enough, but not for the price. I've had others such as Taste of Home, Quick Cooking (which is now something else), Light and Tasty (not quite my cup of tea), and a few others picked up at the newstand from time to tome. I've also enjoyed several recipes from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

but i REALLY love The Art of Eating. that is the best.

That's what I'm talking about.

I like the Art of Cooking, too. Odd, though, I put that one in the literature category -- "cooking" seems too limiting somehow.

Funny (?) that no-one has mentioned RR`s rag!!!

**rag is a slang word for magazine.

Having read through everyone's faves, I'll cast my vote for my top two: Cooking Light and Bon Appetit. I got a year's worth of Cooks Illustrated, and like it well enough, but not for the price. I've had others such as Taste of Home, Quick Cooking (which is now something else), Light and Tasty (not quite my cup of tea), and a few others picked up at the newstand from time to to time. I've also enjoyed several recipes from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

I did!

Way late to the party, but wanted to add my two cents here.

Jenise, I loved your description of Food & Wine. I've always felt that way but doubt I could ever have found the right words. You nailed it. The ONLY reason I ever open the pages of that magazine is for Lettie Teague. I so enjoy her writing style. Not even sure why we get this magazine. It comes in the mail addressed to my husband (who never cooks and doesn't drink much wine). I think he may get the subscription free through his AmEx.

I do get Cooks Illustrated and enjoy it, but I'm with Robin--I think they are running out of material. I don't really need to know how to make the "Perfect Chicken Kiev" or "Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes." One thing I do like about the magazine though, is when they take a product (ie. olive oil, French butter, canned tomatoes, chicken broth) and rate different brands for taste quality. They are usually on the money.

Gave up my subscription to Gourmet after I realized that Ruth Reichl, as nice a person as she probably is, pretty much changed everything I loved about that magazine. Still get Bon Appetit and enjoy it a lot--even the profile of a famous person on the back page which is usually the first page I flip to.

Regarding RR... while I don't particularly enjoy listening to her voice on TV, I definitely like her magazine. I think it's very creatively done, fun to read, and often has some good recipes and ideas.

Going to have to give Saveur another look. I've only seen one or two issues, and that was years ago.

How many here have read the Art of Eating? If you haven't, I strongly suggest trying to get a copy.

Bob's right, though. It's more than a magazine.

How many here have read the Art of Eating? If you haven't, I strongly suggest trying to get a copy.

I love Ed Behr's writing, and the regions he concentrates on (France and Italy) are right up my alley. The issue on the wines of the Jura was great. It is the opposite of those glossy mags with more style than substance.

Joe, you are right, the people who participate in WLDG/FLDG would enjoy AoE.

How are the wedding and honeymoon plans coming?

Best,
Marc