Saturday, February 25, 2012

Lucky Peach


Two Christmases ago a very thoughtful boy gave me a Kitchen-aid mixer. How could he possibly top that this past Christmas, outside of a trip to Italy, of course? Well, he came pretty darn close with a subscription to Lucky Peach. A very cool food magazine that I knew nothing about. 

This is not your mother's (no offense mother) food magazine. 
This magazine is brand new, as in just birthed. In fact the first issue that I received was only the second one published. I must say I feel like I am in on something very cool and sort of underground. Rebellious almost.

Lucky Peach is "a quarterly journal of food and writing". It is published in June, September, December and March. When I opened the cover of my first issue I read this from Editor in Chief, Peter Meehan: "After we wrapped up the first issue and I had a minute to stand back and look at the thing, I felt like it was the magazine equivalent of throwing an M-80 into a bowl of ramen and taking a crime-scene photo of the results. That was a good thing, at least for me".

Well, Mr. Meehan, it was a very good thing for me too. With such articles titled: "More Things Were Eaten", "Miso Horny", "Eat, Drink, F*@k, Die", and "Nobody doesn't Love A Cake With A Runny Center", what, I say WHAT is not to love. 

Yeah, I said it. I am head over heels in love with the brash, raw writings about things beyond appetizers and cocktails, not that I don't love a cocktail and an appetizer. I mean all you have to do is behold the covers of this magazine to know that you will be in for a ride. Who thinks of tattooing a pigs hind quarter with the body map of a human, for god's sake?! I love it. 

And a small disclaimer, if you are easily offended by the F-word, it's written about seven times in the first seven pages, but that too, I must confess - I love. I mean we're talking about FOOD. But not just the romantic, touchey-feeley aspect of food, but the boiling hot kitchens, the long hours, the hard work. And it's not just some foodie blogger such as myself ranting about such things (although, in my defense I did grow up in my parents restaurant and am currently dabbling in my friend's cafe, I do however know my place on the food chain) the writings in Lucky Peach are coming from the big dogs of our food culture. The likes of David Chang of Momofuku, Daniel Patterson of Coi Restaurant, Mario Batali, etc. etc... In fact, in both issues so far, my (*)boyfriend Anthony Bourdain has written a story woven around a random movie of all things.   

SO, with all of that said, I urge you to get your subscription to Lucky Peach. Heck, now that I think about it, it may even have been the catalyst for my recent return to Swigs and Grinds. For that I thank you Lucky Peach folks, because I have missed my little spot here in the blogoshpere. Till next time.....


(*) Ok, maybe I don't want him to be my boyfriend as much as I actually want to BE him. But that's another story....  

Quote of the Day :
 "A human being is primarily a bag for putting food into".
~George Orwell
(as quoted in issue 3 of Lucky Peach)



3 comments:

  1. I love your musings... you must NOT be absent for so long dear one!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Jo! Sometimes I have so many, ehem, plates spinning ( I couldn't resist) It takes me a while to get stuff on the blog. I'll try to be better, really I will.....
    As always thanks for stopping by!
    H

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks Jo! Sometimes I have so many, ehem, plates spinning ( I couldn't resist) It takes me a while to get stuff on the blog. I'll try to be better, really I will.....
    As always thanks for stopping by!
    H

    ReplyDelete