By now, probably everyone has heard that Gourmet magazine has published its last issue. Certainly, there has been plenty of coverage of the announcement in every medium out there. I don’t know that I have anything significant to add to the noise, but not saying anything at all just wouldn’t be right. Think of this post not so much as a full-fledged tribute, but more as a scribbled note, a bunch of flowers or perhaps a votive candle in a jam jar left at a makeshift memorial somewhere.

Gourmet was something I grew into gradually. As a fledgling semi-serious home cook, I found its—I don’t know, seriousness, I guess—more than a little daunting at first. But Marion loved it for that very reason. Her cooking chops were well established, and she appreciated that Gourmet’s recipes felt like real cooking. So it was that, for a time, we had his and hers subscriptions to both Bon Appétit and Gourmet. I pored over the former and merely glanced at the latter; Marion took exactly the opposite approach.

But as the months and the magazines piled up, I found myself lingering longer over Gourmet’s sumptuous photographs, studying recipes and finding them less daunting, more doable. And more interesting than a number of things I was cooking. Slowly but surely, I had become a fan. Continue reading “Goodbye to an old friend: Gourmet folds” →