657123 Mon Oct 05 08:02:38 -0700 2009 28 33 Food Media and News 0 5079776 Sad news this morning from Conde Nast, publisher of Gourmet. The magazine which has been around for just under 70 years is folding. While this news is certainly a bummer, other great food mags do exist, including my favorite, Saveur. I open this thread up to you fellow foodies for input on others I may be missing. http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/05/conde-nast-to-close-gourmet-magazine/?hp Mon Oct 05 08:02:38 -0700 2009 175483 fisherdm 1 5079785 oh, bummer. i had no idea. i loved their articles, and food photography. their recipes weren't half bad either. on the other hand -- one less subscription to manage '-) Mon Oct 05 08:07:25 -0700 2009 5079776 116513 linguafood 1 5079795 just glad they're keeping bon appetit. it's not as pretty or exotic as gourmet, but i think on the whole more accessible (especially in terms of the recipes in it.) Mon Oct 05 08:10:01 -0700 2009 5079776 181498 littlew1ng 1 5079839 It's a huge loss. Other favorites: for articles, Saveur. For recipes, Food and Wine. Mon Oct 05 08:31:43 -0700 2009 5079776 146162 maggiej 2 5079914 It's truly a major loss. I, for one, really think that Gourmet beat Saveur at their own game in recent years. As Saveur is consistently dumbed down year-in and year-out, Gourmet took ont he mantle of accessible, interesting and nuanced food writing. Their coverage of food politics, traditional foodways and culture was quite decent. I don't know of another mainstrm mag anywhere near as good. Mon Oct 05 08:55:23 -0700 2009 5079839 21490 celeriac 3 5083504 Celeriac said it for me: I was a fan of Saveur for the first 8(?) years, basically right up until the new Editor changed the direction of it: the cover became like every other food magazine in the world and they really made it far less sophisticated, substituting the former charming insights into the homes of food purveyors in Germany and Taiwan with yet another "downhome BBQ" family event in Anytown, USA. So I started to read Gourmet again, and recently, I have been a solid supporter, giving it as a gift and cooking from it frequently. I am truly saddened to see Gourmet go. But this is the way of the publishing industry. As long as the Kraft, Unilevers and P&G's hold the purse strings on ad $, they are going to want to put their mega-bucks into magazines where the whole idea of cooking from scratch is kept scarey for the reader: that way they can sell more of their hugely profitable pre-peeled frozen potatoes and their roast-in-a-box monstrosities. There just aren't enough purveyors of organic turkeys, artisanal cheese, and vintners out there with the ad dollars to support the Gourmet's of this world. And it is a sadder reading world as a result. I will vote for Cook's Illustrated at a pinch and, in my home town here in Canada, Chatelaine, though I do despair now that Monda Rosenberg has retired. Tue Oct 06 13:33:53 -0700 2009 5079914 24738 LJS 4 5111831 Don't blame the decline of the magazines on Kraft. Readership for almost all form of published media has substantially declined in the last ten years. Both newspapers and magazines have been badly hit. A prominent reason behind the decline is the rise of the internet which offers information for free. Point your fingers, not at advertising dollars but megacorporations, but at yourself and your use of the internet. Sun Oct 18 06:33:15 -0700 2009 5083504 81926 Roland Parker 1 5079847 Cooks Illustrated. Mon Oct 05 08:33:49 -0700 2009 5079776 202497 MattInNJ 1 5079901 Saveur and Eating Well. Both have excellent writing (I find the health-related articles in Eating Well every bit as enjoyable to read as the geographically focused ones in Saveur). Interesting recipes, though I'm health-conscious, so I tend to actually cook from Eating Well more often. While I'm saddened by the demise of Gourmet, I can't say that it ever did much for me. But I do understand that people loved that magazine. Mon Oct 05 08:48:56 -0700 2009 5079776 131171 nofunlatte 1 5079959 I have had a subscription to Gourmet since 1976 so obviously I am sad it will be discontinued. I get a whole slew of magazines and like each for different reasons. One thing I really like about Fine Cooking is that you can buy a DVD of the year's issues. Since I save my magazines I appreciate that and wish more magazines would do that. They make twice the amount of money since I like getting the print issue each month and then give them away when the DVD is available. I like the online content for several magazines but wish they would bundle the cost with the print subscription price. I hate having to pony up again to get access to the magazine sitting on my counter at home. Mon Oct 05 09:22:48 -0700 2009 5079776 11076 AGM_Cape_Cod 2 5080000 i have some of theirs going back to the 1950's question is it just gourmet or does it include their sister bon app. ? Mon Oct 05 09:36:45 -0700 2009 5079959 113619 foodperv 3 5080138 If I understand the question correctly, it is only Gourmet that will be discontinued. Mon Oct 05 10:28:59 -0700 2009 5080000 11076 AGM_Cape_Cod 4 5083116 That is correct, only Gourmet has met its end. Tue Oct 06 11:34:39 -0700 2009 5080138 175483 fisherdm 1 5080276 Saveur, Bon Appetit, Food and Wine, Fine Cooking, Cook's Illustrated, Louisiana Cookin'. Mon Oct 05 11:24:58 -0700 2009 5079776 253735 bayoucook 1 5083505 Saveur. It's the only one that I'll read cover to cover regularly. Tue Oct 06 13:34:48 -0700 2009 5079776 14386 BobB 1 5084751 I won't miss Gourmet or any other magazine at the prices they charge today. Rag prices are just obscene when you can buy a book off Amazon that will last a life time for $25 and get free freight. If I have to pick one it would be saveur. Wed Oct 07 04:23:54 -0700 2009 5079776 253154 Fritter 1 5086138 Favorite cooking mag? It ain't Bon Appetite, I can tell you that. I dropped my subscription a few years ago when each issue seemed to have an article featuring one or another group of 30-somethings in Southern California having a patio party or backyard barbecue. It had turned into an ongoing shtick. I recently re-upped to Gourmet for two years. If they try to flip me into the Bon Appetite subscription embrace I will be truly pissed. Wed Oct 07 12:53:27 -0700 2009 5079776 13619 Sharuf 2 5086396 I like "Cook's Illustrated" and also their web site. I take them out at my local Public Library. My second choice is: Fine Cooking. Wed Oct 07 14:02:18 -0700 2009 5086138 194774 Smachnoho 1 5097992 Another vote for Saveur. I love Asian and other ethnic cuisines and appreciate the round-the-world perspectives. I subscribed to CI for several years, but no longer. Got tired of the same formulaic approach to every recipe. Mon Oct 12 15:46:34 -0700 2009 5079776 1114540 cheesemaestro 1 5098081 What is the difference between Cooks Illustrated and Cooks Country. I currently subscribe to Cooks Illustrated, and I am thinking about the other one. J Mon Oct 12 16:20:50 -0700 2009 5079776 168842 jwurz 2 5100932 I personally think that CI uses only fresh ingredients i.e nothing prepared. Where as CC bends the rules by using canned soups, pre-seasoned rice etc... I also consider CI a weekend cooking mag and CC a weeknight cooking mag. Recipes tend to be more invovled in CI. Edited to add, I like both....lk Tue Oct 13 16:48:18 -0700 2009 5098081 189388 lyndak 1 5098231 SAVEUR x1,000,000 for me, nothing else has ever touched it. Mon Oct 12 17:19:12 -0700 2009 5079776 184055 beelzebozo 1 5098923 Food and Wine is a far second for me. I wonder if a new magazine will come out sometime in the future to replace the role of Gourmet? The others just don't come close for me. Tue Oct 13 04:15:29 -0700 2009 5079776 240564 eviemichael 1 5099334 I saw very little difference between Saveur and Gourmet – both magazines seem to be targeted at the people who like to dine out and try a recipe now and again. Outside of the pure professional magazines Fine Cooking seemed to have the best instructional methods and their recipes seemed to be accurate and tested. They assumed that you used to possess a moderate level of knowledge and skills; However, they have been dumbing down their magazine over the last couple of years and marketing to the new home-maker – very sad. Cooks illustrated as mentioned above is good a year or two, but they do seem to follow a formulaic style. Food and Wine is the most hit and miss, one issue is excellent the next recipes are wrong, articles are banal, etc. I’m surprised that no dedicated foodie has mentioned art culinare. Cheers Tue Oct 13 07:55:01 -0700 2009 5079776 131643 RetiredChef 1 5107716 saveur! Fri Oct 16 07:57:14 -0700 2009 5079776 1116741 FoodReader 1 5110920 Wait- Gourmet was a cooking magazine? Sat Oct 17 15:37:25 -0700 2009 5079776 10784 Scrapironchef 2 5118495 LMAO! Tue Oct 20 17:24:27 -0700 2009 5110920 131643 RetiredChef 1 5119000 My favorite cooking magazine is Saveur. I am very unhappy that Gourmet is being discontinued as Bon Apetit is a poor substitute. I borrowed several copies from my library and find that it doesn't hold a candle to Gourmet. I cannot believe that it is staying in publication while Gourmet is not. I also like Cook's Illustrated and Cooking Light. Tue Oct 20 22:25:04 -0700 2009 5079776 290845 KristieB 1 5200774 I'm new to the site and very bummed to find Gourmet has gone under. I'm a long term subscriber in a small town in Wisconsin. Transplanted from L.A., I loved to read a food mag that had some depth and some real insight in the writing about food. I'm not being critical, but velveeta is still a common ingredient here and most people cook from Taste of Home. Gourmet was always a reminder that there is a BIG food world out there, with all kinds of amazing flavors. Their articles on slow food, and particularly on the politics of food production, were really on the mark a lot of the time. I was going to pitch all my old issues, now I'm awfully pleased to have a big box in the attic. Gourmet, I will miss you! Sun Nov 22 15:59:56 -0800 2009 5079776 1126630 berlinfoodie