Did you read the article in The State on Wednesday about food magazines?  It was on the front page of the Life and Style section, and it gave a pretty good rundown of the popular food magazines since the death of that grand old lady, Gourmet.  

Now, you know I love food magazines.  (And cookbooks.  I have a whole bookshelf just for cookbooks.  I have a shocking number of cookbooks from which I have never cooked a single dish, too.  I read them like novels and fantasize about cooking from them.  It's a sickness.)  So I thought I'd give you my own rundown of the main food magazines we get here in the Periodicals Department, and I'm sure you'll notice I don't always agree with The State.  This will be a multi-part series, so hang on to your chef's hats!

Bon Appetit is supposed to be carrying Gourmet's mantle, I guess.  I never saw much difference between the two, when it came down to it.  The emphasis in Bon Appetit is on exotic ingredients, elaborate preparations, and aspirational lifestyle articles.  Many people don't realize that both Bon Appetit and Gourmet archive recipes at epicurious.com, which is really how I prefer to get them.  The web recipes have ratings and reviews by other cooks, so you know which ones are winners and which ones are duds.  I have to say, I've cooked some great stuff from Bon Appetit... but I've also come up with some real losers, too.  The best thing about Bon Appetit, which I miss about Gourmet as well, is the amazing food photography.  The food always looks so amazing that it gets you really excited about cooking.

Saveur is like a slightly less stuffy Bon Appetit - a little friendlier, but still very self-consciously sophisticated.  The recipes are varied, but I'd give the same caveat that they tend to feature difficult to find or expensive ingredients and complex technique.  Saveur, like many recent food magazines, has jumped on the locavore trend with both feet - the words "artisanal", "fresh", "authentic" and "seasonal" are so frequently used in these magazines that it starts to feel a bit cliched.  Still, like Bon Appetit, the recipes and articles are exciting and beautifully photographed. 

Both of these will introduce you to new ingredients and make you wish you could travel to all these amazing restaurants, so even if you don't cook a thing out of them you'll enjoy the reading experience.

Next up - homestyle cooking magazines!