As the Paper Palate Turns

Last Sunday, I didn’t do my usual round-up of my posts at the Paper Palate, because I was busy frying spring rolls and steaming buns, so this week, we have a lot to catch up on. It was a pretty heavy news period in the world of food magazines, and luckily, I caught most of the big stories.

First up, three new food magazines have launched or announced that they will launch in the UK and US markets. This is very interesting news, considering that even the giants of Conde Naste, Bon Appetit and Gourmet, lost some ad revenue last year. The UK market doesn’t seem to be as tight, however, and the magazine that just started there, FreeRange, is all about eating locally and getting out of the processed food, supermarket, corporate food rut. I wish FreeRange a great deal of luck, and hope to hear good things about them in the future.

Next, we have the sad news that CHOW magazine, which has had financial woes since its inception two years ago, is once again going to take a six month publication hiatus. I wish them good luck and hope to see them back on the newstands soon.

On to happier topics: US newspapers are finally getting the clue that the Chinese are not the only ones to celebrate the Lunar New Year! A plethora of articles appeared in a flurry last week, relating the New Year traditions of the Koreans, Vietnamese and Chinese who have made their homes in the United States. I rounded up some of the best, and included some recipes.

New York Times restaurant critic Frank Bruni went undercover to walk in the shoes of a waiter in Boston, then wrote about it extensively in the Times. I took this opportunity to expound on my theory that if more people had to wait tables, fewer restaurant guests would treat them like crap.

Just so people who have been reading my magazine reviews in The Paper Palate don’t think that I dislike every food magazine that I see as a matter of principle, here is my review of Eating Well, which is about as glowing as I get.

Finally, with a big heap of thank-yous to reader and friend Shirley Lim, I got the chance to look at a handful of food magazines from Singapore and Malaysia, and give a glimpse of them to the readers of The Paper Palate. I will be doing recipes from these rarities in the coming weeks, so look for new dishes to be coming from yours truly in the near future.

Now, let’s have a taste of what other Paper Palate writers cooked up for us in the past week or so:

Anthony Silverbrow brings us an interesting rumination on the economic and political lessons alcohol can bring us as he gleans goodies from the UK newspapers.

Courtney juxtaposes two stories from the Chicago Tribune on McDonald’s and obesity.

Christina brings us a look at what is in store for readers of the UK magazine Olives.

And here is some of goodies from the rest of the Well Fed staff:

Hand-made marshmallows sweeten the air at Jaay D’s place–and if you follow the recipe, they can make your Valentine sweet on you, too.

Derrick points us to an impropmtu discussion of the perils of prions at eGullet, while commenters at Growers and Grocers come to the conclusion that science reporting in newspapers and magazines tend to confuse rather than enlighten laypersons.

And, Robert brings us a Bloody Mary recipe.

4 Comments

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1. The Paper Palate article where you link to the Frank Bruni As Waiter article now links to his latest restaurant review, of the Spotted Pig. Alas.

   However, I would like to mention that you write in such a way as to make me want to eat things that I normally hate.

   Comment by Jessica — February 5, 2006 #

2. Ah–I am sorry. That is the way of archiving and newspapers, Jessica.

   I am glad to know that I am continuing in my tradition of getting people to want to eat new and different things, however.

   😉

   Comment by Barbara — February 6, 2006 #

3. On magazines: I mentioned Cuisine magazine (www.cuisine.co.nz) in your post seeking favourite magazines a while ago. It seems it was not my parochial pride at all, as the Gourmet Media World Festival, Cannes (you probably know more about it than me) decided it was the best food magazine in the world.

   Not bad for an upstart from New Zealand!

   Comment by Barry — February 6, 2006 #

4. You are right, Barry–you did. And I wrote about that on the Paper Palate on Saturday!

   Go and check it out! New Zealand’s Cuisine Magazine Named Best in World

   But thanks for letting me know–just in case I might have missed it.

   (Tomorrow’s Paper Palate story will be a good one, too–all about the new newspaper insert food magazine Relish and the questionable ethics of their editorial policies….)

   Comment by Barbara — February 7, 2006 #

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