The first thing I read this morning was the government is currently looking to April as the soonest the current lockdown might be eased. Given the UK posted it’s highest daily death figures for the pandemic only yesterday, we’re going to have the hatches battened down for a long time yet, even April might turn out to be optimistic.
If the current situation is going on for that long we’re all going to have to find ways of travelling and getting out which don’t actually require leaving the house.
Magazines have always been one of my weaknesses and various subscriptions mean they’re coming through the letterbox on a very regular basis. Over the course of the last twelve months, I’ve discovered four food-themed publications which are perfect for the frustrated food traveller.
Fare is the best place to start. Published quarterly, each issue takes a single city and through a combination of articles and interviews, all loosely based around food, gives you a feel of what life is like in their chosen destination. To date, there are seven issues and the cities range from Helsinki to Seoul. I’ve caught up on all of them and each has left me wanting to visit the city and sample the cuisine.
The most recent was based in Antwerp and I find this particularly interesting as it was the first based in a city I’d visited. Reading about the wonderful local food and the near-perfect local beers has put a return visit via Eurostar well towards the top of my post coronavirus wish list.
Issue eight is due to be published soon and will be based in Lima. My knowledge of Peruvian food is very limited, but I do remember, all be it vaguely, having one too many Pisco_sour in a cocktail bar once. I’m hoping there will be a recipe.
Drift magazine also takes the one city at a time approach, but in their case, the content is purely the local coffee culture. Anyone who follows me on Twitter will know that in normal times I’m a coffee shop addict and very prone to sharing photos of what I’m drinking. If you’re even remotely of the same mind, this is the magazine for you. The photography is wonderful throughout, a fact made even better by the current issue being based in Manhattan, making the whole thing feel very cool indeed. Truly a coffee table coffee magazine.
Fatboy Zine is a Hong Kong publication, and also possibly the perfect foodie title, which I discovered via Magazine Brighton, a treasure trove of a website for all magazine addicts. Based solely in Hong Kong, Fatboy tries to combine food and local recipes with a feel of what local life is like. The copy I have does make a lot of references to the troubles of the last twelve months and following the recent crackdowns on local media outlets you have to worry for its future.
Ahead of writing this I flipped through my copy and noticed a recipe for coca-cola, soy sauce and ginger chicken. I think we may be having a Hong Kong meal soon.
Sandwich magazineis my final choice. If a sandwich magazine isn’t niche enough, they go even deeper by making each issue specific to a single type or setting. I’ve got two copies now, the first themed around the New England lobster roll, the second about African food. The writing is broad, in particular for the African issue where the history of the continent and the impact it still has on what’s being eaten today is the main theme.
So if you can’t find me, it’s probably because I’m sat somewhere with a coffee and indulging in some stay at home travelling.
David in the kitchen. 