Home Cooking Essentials: Magazines

Cooks Illustrated
Simply put, the best food magazine in English today--no ads, no flash, just stunningly presented, thoroughly illustrated articles on cooking and food. Its focus is on technique and ingredients rather than on one-shot fancy recipes; though recipes are included, you're more likely to learn how to create your own recipes using the information in CI than from any other magazine. In the pages of CI you'll find the best ways of doing things, tested out by a staff of people committed to getting results for the average chef. Because it accepts no advertising you know they're not publishing articles just to please their sponsors; it's strictly for the benefit of their readers. And a more beautiful magazine you will be hard put to find, as well. It's gorgeously produced.

Cuisine
Another ad-free cooking magazine like Cooks Illustrated, Cuisine is also a treasure trove of information on technique and ingredients, but not quite as handsomely produced and a little more likely to veer toward the spectacular than CI. Still, my best chocolate cake recipe is from Cuisine, as is my favorite roast chicken technique. The best thing about Cuisine are the very clear photographs illustrating every step of a technique or recipe. Ever wonder how to fold something into a batter? You won't wonder if Cuisine asks you to, because they'll show you.

Honorable Mention
Fine Cooking
Fine Cooking is one of the magazines published by Taunton, and it shows; Taunton is one of the best publishers out there, responsible for the beautiful and informative Kitchen Garden, Threads and many more. While not as detailed and meticulous as either Cuisine or Cooks Illustrated, it is still a very well presented magazine, serious in its study of cooking but not stuffy or pompous. It's for people who enjoy their time in the kitchen and want to do a good job of it rather than just slap dinner on the table. I find it a little less geared toward technique and ingredients, and more geared to final dishes than CI, which is why it ranks as an "honorable mention."

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