85 replies to this topic

[ngatti]

I agree.  I was very surprised at how appealing the recipes in Cooking Light can be.

Cooking Light has the largest subsciber base of any food/culinary mag in America.

FYI
Nick

[ngatti]

edit: Doublet

Thanks lizziee. I've heard of these, but never seen them. If I can find some back issues (1-29) It'd be great. I don't hold out much luck though. Nothing on eBay and I can't see anyone parting with their issues.

Although I have always felt that the recipes themselves were not tested. I have always felt that the food presented is absolute cutting edge.

Nick

Edited by ngatti, 21 January 2003 - 02:36 PM.

[Jaymes]

I agree.  I was very surprised at how appealing the recipes in Cooking Light can be.

Cooking Light has the largest subsciber base of any food/culinary mag in America.

I keep thinking that I should subscribe to Cooking Light -- proving that indeed, hope does rise above experience to 'spring eternal.'

In this case it's the hope that by repeatedly looking at beautiful photos of 'lite' food preparations, I might eventually be actually interested in them....

Edited by Jaymes, 21 January 2003 - 02:33 PM.

[torakris]

I am divided on Cooking Light, they have some great issues and some that are really bad. I picked up 20 back issues on Ebay for $4.00 and am currently going through them ripping out pages that I like. There are issues from about 1993 up to 2002 and it is very interesting to see the changes (first great praise for magarine and then their sudden drop of it).
I actually like the magazine because of their fitness sections, but again I also read Shape, Self, and Fitness.

I still have to wait and see where the new Eating Well is going to go, but in general I prefer them over Cooking light.

Edited by torakris, 21 January 2003 - 02:41 PM.

[lizziee]

Nick,

I usually don't follow the Art Culinaire recipes from beginning to end, particularly as a home cook. Two dishes that I have found particularly successful are the artichoke ravioli and the uni with scrambled eggs. Generally, however, I will use bits and pieces of a recipe. Also, the presentation of a dish is so extraordinary that I try and adapt some of these.

[swissmiss]

Cooking Light has the largest subsciber base of any food/culinary mag in America.

I thought it was Taste of Home. I've tried locating the article that said that on Google but couldn't. Anyone else?

[helenas]

In was in NYT

[swissmiss]

Thanks Helena. That's what I thought, but for some reason it wasn't coming up in my search. I may have printed it at the time of publication. A bit of searching through my office may locate the actual article.

Edited because I did find the article: "Taste of Home also claims the highest circulation of any food magazine, about 4.5 million, which is more than Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Gourmet combined." It was published in the March 22, 2002 issue of the NYT.

Edited by swissmiss, 21 January 2003 - 02:58 PM.

[Fat Guy]

Cooking Light has the largest subsciber base of any food/culinary mag in America.

By a lot.

It's something like 1.6 million circulation for Cooking Light versus around 950,000 each for Gourmet and Food & Wine. Bon Appetit is the only other food magazine in Cooking Light's league, at something like 1.3 million.

[ngatti]

Nick,

I usually don't follow the Art Culinaire recipes from beginning to end, particularly as a home cook. Two dishes that I have found particularly successful are the artichoke ravioli and the uni with scrambled eggs. Generally, however, I will use bits and pieces of a recipe. Also, the presentation of a dish is so extraordinary that I try and adapt some of these.

absolutely lizziee! I find the mag essential. I just rarely attempt to cook from it.

Nick

[fresh_a]

Although I read pretty much every food magazine and website I can sink my teeth into, I'm still waiting for the ultimate food magazine, for true fanatics like us...

[Liza]

Nick et al,
You can order The Best of Art Culinaire issues 1-15 and 15-30 - they're two large hard-bound collections with photos and recipes. If there's anything you're looking for, I have both collections.
Liza

[lizziee]

The Best Of Art Culinaire
P.O. Box 9628
Morristown, New Jersey 07963

Tel# 973-993-5500
Fax# 973-993-8779
www.getartc.com

Each book is $38.00

[ngatti]

Thanks all. The hardbound collection will have to do as I continue to search out individual issues.

Nick

[Ron Johnson]

I will flip through an issue of Gourmet or Food & Wine if I am at the home of a subscriber or my dentist's office. However, I don't think I can say which is better. They seem awfully similar and similarly awful.

I take Saveur and Food Arts. I like Saveur because it is not just a collection of recipes delves somewhat into the culture behind the food.

[MsRamsey]

Edited because I did find the article: "Taste of Home also claims the highest circulation of any food magazine, about 4.5 million, which is more than Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Gourmet combined." It was published in the March 22, 2002 issue of the NYT.

How's that work? I've never seen this magazine in any store or heard of it. Is it a freebie to doctor's offices or something?

[Fat Guy]

Although I read pretty much every food magazine and website I can sink my teeth into, I'm still waiting for the ultimate food magazine, for true fanatics like us...

If someone came up with the money, we'd create such a magazine.

[chantrelle]

I just got my last free F&W mag (some credit card special dealy) and it seems to have gotten progressively less interesting in the last year. I used to get excited when it came in the mail, the last few months my reaction has been "hmm, wonder if this will be worth reading?"

I don't get gourmet...they haven't sent me a "free" offer

[gknl]

Edited because I did find the article: "Taste of Home also claims the highest circulation of any food magazine, about 4.5 million, which is more than Bon Appetit, Food & Wine and Gourmet combined." It was published in the March 22, 2002 issue of the NYT.

How's that work? I've never seen this magazine in any store or heard of it. Is it a freebie to doctor's offices or something?

Word of mouth, mostly. Pretty amazing, huh? My non-foodie cousin who likes to cook gave me a subscription once. Not my aesthetic, but I can see the attraction. My non-almost-anti-foodie girlfriend who likes to eat discovered them and loves their stuff so now I have the 1996-2000 and 2002 recipe annuals.

I have a free subscription to Food and Wine which I enjoy flipping through, but I doubt I'll continue it if I have to pay for it. I really dislike Gourmet now. The content is okay, but I hate the fashion-mag layout and having to fight through all the ads to read the articles. I think I like Bon Appetite the best, but it's nothing I'm passionate about. Besides, who has time to read anything besides egullet?

[Fat Guy]

I can't figure out why Taste of Home never shows up on the lists of top-100 circulation magazines, for example:

http://www.infopleas...a/A0301522.html

What could be going on there?

[Dave the Cook]

Perhaps they're not audited.

[Fat Guy]

Yes, that may be the case. Kind of like when Web sites boast of hundreds of thousands of users that can't possibly be documented. Or maybe there's another reason why they wouldn't want to be audited. Who knows?

[swissmiss]

I can't figure out why Taste of Home never shows up on the lists of top-100 circulation magazines, for example:

http://www.infopleas...a/A0301522.html

What could be going on there?

Steven, Taste of Home doesn't have any ads, which is probably why it's not audited. They don't have to report to anyone really. The top circulation is mainly for advertisers to know where to put their money, as you most likely know!

Ms. Ramsey, you can find Taste of Home at Barnes & Noble for example. I don't find the look of the magazine appealing, but it is easy to see why it appeals to such a vast audience. A lot of the recipes are sent in by the readers as well. They also go to food-related trade shows.

[JAZ]

I don't find the look of the magazine appealing, but it is easy to see why it appeals to such a vast audience. A lot of the recipes are sent in by the readers as well. They also go to food-related trade shows.

The mother-in-law of a friend of mine used to be one of the editors of Taste of Home, so my friend got it for free for several years. I borrowed some of the issues to see if it might be a possible market for some articles. Turns out they only accept submissions from subscribers, and even then I think you have to be on what they call their editorial board, which seemd to be a group of women who like to cook at home but have no professional background. They have columns on subjects like theme parties (I recall one such column describing the author's "dairy party" complete with a picture of the hostesses dressed up in black and white cow costumes, uddrs and all).

Think church fundraiser cook book with photos and a test kitchen.

[joiei]

Gourmet, Food and Wine, and the rest, I pick up at the local B&N on occasion if it has anything interesting inside. I do subscribe to Art Culinaire, Food Arts, and Sante. I find magazines directed to the industry a little more challenging. And the recipes in AC that I have
done were worth the effort. Especially the desserts. By the time I finished, there would be several new ideas running through my head. Mostly changes to the dish I was making.

I do not think there is a best, basically it is what is appealing to you at that moment. Right now, I am liking Eating Well a lot and also, The Art of Eating, which does not involve recipes in the first place.

Good Food, Good friends, Good Health. That is living.

[Steve Klc]

Nick, I'd gladly part with my early "Art Culinaire" issues, I've never been that much of a fan, least of all of the desserts. (Sorry joiei, not meant as a direct reply.) If you'd value them, PM me. #15, 17, 18, 23, 27, 31, 32, 33, and 35 could be yours. Of course you'd have to cook for them, I'm not interested in a monetary exchange.

[Fat Guy]

I'm mostly interested in Art Culinaire for the photography. It's the gold standard for food photography as far as I'm concerned. I've found that if you aren't familiar with the way Art Culinaire displays food you can't even have a conversation about food photography with a professional. Whenever I do a magazine piece for a general interest publication that doesn't have a lot of experience with photographing food, I show the art director the photos in Art Culinaire and ask to have the style emulated: The wide apertures, the backlighting, and the general sex appeal. If they come even close, we're in good shape.

[jaybee]

Although I read pretty much every food magazine and website I can sink my teeth into, I'm still waiting for the ultimate food magazine, for true fanatics like us...

If someone came up with the money, we'd create such a magazine.

Aha. Ambitions revealed. What in your opinion, would the ultimate food magazine have that is not present in a food magazine now? Or in what aspects would it be so far superior? What magzines of any subject do you consider to be good role models.

[helenas]

my perception is that Gourmet pitches to a higher-income, more urban demographic than Food & Wine.

According to the following table (Median Household Income), F&W has a pretty high-income audience.

[Fat Guy]

Correct, but Gourmet's readers have around 10% more household income to dispose of -- and that's a lot of food, wine, and travel. Look at the ads in the two magazines to see how differently they're perceived by the luxury goods and services providers.