Gastronomica is almost 100% academic -- and I love it for that: none of this "25 salsas to brighten your grilled Perdue chicken." There is so much more thought that should go into food and its production, and G. deals with that. BTW, members of IACP get it for free. Food Arts and Chef are perhaps the best and least of "professional" rags. FA is good for research, e.g., where was Jean-Georges Vongerichten's molten chocolate cake recipe first published? plus of course Elizabeth Schneider's articles. Chef occasionally has a good article on ingredients, and tells you what is considered "cutting edge" in the REAL America. Fine Cooking is the "Joy of Cooking" of magazines: excellent basic information on categories of ingredients, home smallwares, kitchen design, etc. For the semi-advanced home cook, and the professional who has no time to do research on oils, vinegars, olives, etc. Cuisine at Home (formerly just Cuisine) is for total beginners. Even Women's World has more interesting recipes. Gourmet is food porn. So is Saveur, but at least it's got some history and sociology. To a lesser degree, so are Bon Appetit and Food & Wine. Those 2 are on a par with that Martha lady: you too can cook gourmets ... I mean, be a gourmet cook. Personally, I think Australian Vogue Entertaining + Travel is one of the best. Well, now that I've probably ticked off a lot of folks here, let me say HI, I'M NEW. I'm a quasi refugee from another "almost but not quite totally unlike" board.
