A recipe in the October issue of “Sandra Lee Semi- Homemade Magazine” reads:
Meat Loaf Sandwich
Ingredients
Leftover meat loaf slices
2 Texas Toast bread slices, toasted
Barbecue sauce
Directions:
Microwave meat loaf slices on high for 45 to 60 seconds or until heated through. Arrange meat loaf slices on 1 bread slice. Top with desired amount of barbecue sauce. Cover with remaining bread slice. Serve at once. Makes 1 serving.
The editors gave this recipe marquee placement — the entire last page of the issue, complete with a full-color photo. Many thousands of dollars were spent to conceive, create, print and distribute this wealth of knowledge to you, honored reader.
Truth: I have a healthy respect for Sandra Lee. She saw an opening in the marketplace and dove in, creating a powerhouse brand that, to its credit, makes no pretense of elevated epicurianism.
And granted, there are few greater pleasures in life than a meatloaf sandwich.
Still, it’s not easy to picture the reader whose life is enriched by this recipe. And that’s what magazines are supposed to do: enrich our lives.
This magazine can, and should, do better than this. Any magazine can.
Most don’t.
If you stand in front of a magazine rack today and infer from the covers exactly what food-interested people are interested in, you might surmise the following list:
1. Cute cupcakes.
2. Fooling people into thinking you cooked when really you didn’t.
3. Television stars and the products they endorse.
4. Dog-treat cookery tips.
5. More cute cupcakes.
To be fair, in these ad-driven days, I imagine the marketing and sales teams have more say in what goes on a magazine’s cover than ever before. And I have nothing specific against cute cupcakes or product-pushing TV stars.
But it’s time for the powers that be in publishing to give us a little more credit out here. We do not need another way to decorate a cupcake with jelly beans, no matter what your numbers say. More meatloaf sandwich recipes? Thanks, but no thanks.
We want easy, affordable recipes, yes. But we want better than this. We want deeper.
We’ll pay for it.
In the meantime, it’s tempting to look to the archives for relief. Library collections put the greats within reach: Clementine Paddleford, Roy Andries de Groot, Craig Claiborne, Waverly Root.
But the horizons that need expanding lie before us, not behind us. You can only read the same John McPhee essay so many times, no matter how brilliant it is. What’s next?
There is no lack of energetic writing talent today, full of the expertise and curiosity it takes to produce great magazine food writing. What’s increasingly missing are publications with the cash and will to serve a starving audience.
One magazine doing recipes right (especially this month) is Bon Appetit. The uninterrupted 46-page Thanksgiving story in the November issue is inspiring, clever, and useful.
Another magazine to scope out for a deeper take on food culture is Gastronomica. The wordy quarterly is innovative and relevant, if a little clubby. Save up: A four-issue subscription costs $50.
What’s your favorite food mag?
