When I was in high school, I subscribed to Gourmet magazine. No Seventeen or Glamour for me. I read every issue of that pillar of culinary prose, from cover to cover. The travel articles, inspiring, with breathtaking photos to match. Those letters from home cooks hoping editors could wheedle a recipe away from a favorite restaurant. And the stories, personal and elegant, winding their way through a cherished memory or expounded upon cultures connected through cuisine, and ending with a tempting list of dishes with instructions for the participation-minded reader. Gourmet was my escape and my passion.

I was a competent cook because I grew up helping my mother prepare and serve elegant dinners to corporate visitors. We lived in Paris, and every part of entertaining had a ritual. We shopped at the open air market, baskets on our arms. We translated recipes from American cookbooks – and Gourmet – to work with French ingredients. We cooked in a tiny, seriously under-equipped kitchen. We served, delighted, entertained, cleared, and washed by hand: china, and crystal, and silver.

I never wanted to be a chef.

What I wanted to do was read about food. And the more I read about food, the more I wanted to write about food. A voracious reader, a competent cook, an enthusiastic and fearless eater, a lover of people and stories, it was a natural evolution.

The charter issue of Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street Magazine, in my mailbox this week, sent me down the kitchen path of nostalgia. I spend a lot of time on Pinterest, and cruising through sites like Gourmet magazine’s spawn, Epicurious.

Milk Street reminded me how much joy there is for a food lover in a print publication.

With that thought, I give you a solid list of eight tantalizing magazines for foodies. All of these are worth a subscription, or at least a follow on Facebook and Twitter. Most of them also have some cool content on their websites. Cooks, travelers, readers… if any of those are you, connect with a super hot cooking magazine.

Tantalizing Magazines for Foodies

Milk Street

WEBSITE: http://www.177milkstreet.com/magazine

Christopher Kimball, founder of America’s Test Kitchen, chief editor and on-camera host has a new venture, Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street, with its first product, a sweet cooking magazine. The charter issue is here – mine was in the mail this week – and you can sign up for your free copy at their website. The magazine will be published six times a year starting with a March/April 2017 issue. It has a funky, fresh look, and a story-telling vibe that promises a global approach to exploring cuisines, travel and the sharing of culture.

Cook’s Illustrated

WEBSITE: https://www.cooksillustrated.com/

This magazine promises recipes and kitchen equipment reviews that are 100% tested by professional cooks. It’s an authoritative resource, and takes you through even the most complex recipes with great photos, succinct explanations and step-by-step recipes. There are always tips and advice, too. Yes, you can do this. Or just devour the photos and convince a friend to make something in here for your next dinner together.

Saveur

WEBSITE: http://www.saveur.com/

This is another feast for the eyes, full of great recipes from around the world – most of them easy enough for the self-confident amateur cook, and all of them inspirational for the professional chef. There is a healthy smattering of travel articles, kitchen tips, and wine reviews. I’ve always appreciated the focus on making recipes work in a “real” kitchen, and the instructions for handling cooking tools and sourcing ingredients. There are lots of great ideas for entertaining and ramping up your holiday repertoire as well.

Lucky Peach

WEBSITE: http://luckypeach.com/

Lucky Peach is pretty darn trendy; it’s like Gourmet for the hipster. This magazine is a collaboration between food writer Peter Meehan, Momofuku’s David Chang, and the McSweeney’s team. The articles in Lucky Peach are often meatier, and chefs become masters of prose. Culinary luminaries like Anthony Bourdain and Ruth Reichl pop up here as writers, expounding on concepts outside of their kitchen realms. Each issue has a fairly tight thematic focus, so the photos, art, articles and super-arty recipes all hang together in a pleasing, literary fashion. You can pick up a single issue at most large bookstore chains, or click over to their website and indulge in a subscription.

the Art of Eating

WEBSITE: http://artofeating.com

Connecting food, wine, and where they come from is the mission of the Art of Eating. These articles cover the farms, markets, shops, restaurants where they are grown, bought, and served. The connection theme here is connoisseurship, with a strong nod to tradition and a serious effort to connect the past to trends. Most of what you’ll find here, in terms of recipes and ingredients, has a bias toward simplicity, with a preference for minimalism and less “fancy” preparations.

Alimentum

WEBSITE: http://www.alimentumjournal.com/

Poetry, literature, and food are a rich combination, and Alimentum is a semi-annual literary review for foodies. This publication heads in the direction of Proust and his madeleines, and it is a feast for people who love a finely turned sentence. You’ll enjoy tucking into your reading chair with these beautiful stories, and will be tempted to keep reading, which will keep you out of the kitchen for at least a minute.

Taste of the South

WEBSITE: http://www.tasteofthesouthmagazine.com/

Taste of the South is more of the usual cooking magazine, with a regional focus. You’ve probably seen this on the grocery store racks, and it’s a solid choice for a useful, economical subscription to add to your cooking library. It has recipes for traditional Southern dishes and menus for typical special occasion meals. This magazine boasts that each issue has more than 60 recipes, so you’d be hard-pressed to cook your way through every dish here before the next issue hits your mailbox.

Garden & Gun

WEBSITE: http://gardenandgun.com/

It’s an award-winner, so it’s worth your attention, even if “food” is not in the name. Mixed in with articles on outdoor and gun sports, are wonderful pieces on Southern food, culture and people. Add a dash of art, literature, and music, and you’ve got a lifestyle magazine that covers the best of the South. If you love Southern cooking, you should make this part of your foodie reading.

What’s your favorite cooking magazine? Leave a comment and share the love.

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