Several years ago I unsubscribed from BBC Good Food magazine because, in my opinion, they had completely changed focus from inspiring and encouraging the keen cook to providing this: “…ideas for quick everyday dishes, inspirational entertaining and other recipes you’ve ever dreamt of – all devised to save you time and effort.”
I used to buy a magazine about food and cooking because I am interested in the subject, not necessarily because I want to “save time and effort” – although there is obviously a place for that too. And there must be a big demand for this, as that publication still seems to be very popular and successful. However, the change in focus left the keen cooks (like myself) high and dry without something catering (excuse the pun) for us.
Enter Olive magazine…
Olive magazine was first published in December 2004 on the following premise:
“Olive magazine is the ultimate food lovers’ guide to recipes, restaurants and travel. If you’re a foodie looking for the inside track on eating in, eating out and going places, this is the magazine for you.
“Every issue is packed with adventurous but achievable recipes for every occasion, smart tricks of the trade from the world’s leading chefs, in-the-know info on the hottest new restaurants, plus the low-down on the hippest new holiday destinations.”
Well done, Auntie Beeb, you spotted the niche and filled it. In my opinion they’ve filled it well.
Whilst most of the recipes are quick and easy, there are also enough challenges to whet the appetite of the more adventurous cook. “Nothing wrong with a little showing off, we say.” Having bought a few issues, and liking the magazine well enough, I decided to subscribe a few months ago. I’ve not been disappointed – most of the time.
The magazine consists of three main sections: eat in, eat out, eat away. Thus it covers recipes and ideas to make at home, features about restaurants, and foodie-related travel articles. This comprises the main content of the magazine. In addition there’s a “need to know” section and “expert advice”.
According to their website (visited on 21 Sept 2007), the cover price of the magazine is £3, for 148 pages. If you subscribe in the UK, you get a 30% discount and they invariably offer a free gift too. The free gift is usually a nifty piece of kit and something worth having. Overseas subscriptions don’t qualify for the gift. I guess they want to get revenge on those of us who live in the sun. (Or maybe it’s to do with rip-off-Britain’s high postal charges.)
Let’s have a look at what’s in the issue I have to hand (which says £3.20 on the cover and not £3 as stated on their website. It’s also only 130 pages, not 148). This is the October 2007 issue which has arrived promptly in mid-September despite being sent to my address in Thailand. Absolutely no complaints on that score! Even so, the package included a letter to overseas subscribers explaining how they’ve upgraded the service so we can receive it much earlier than otherwise. That’s nice, I guess, but I was happy enough before.
There are an awful lot of adverts in here, but I suppose that’s the same with all glossy magazines. Without them the cover price would need to be much higher. Oh well.
After four full-page ads, we get to the first contents page. It’s clearly laid out in its sections: eat in, eat out, eat away.
EAT IN
OK, Gordon Ramsay is good, but this magazine seems to be obsessed with him. I admit I’ve tried some of his stuff and it can be fairly challenging, although invariably worth the effort. But it’s starting to feel like Ramsay has become ubiquitous.
It reminds me of trekking through the jungle in Northern Thailand (almost twenty years ago) when we stopped for an overnight stay in a tiny village. One of the group asked, “Where’s the toilet?” And the tour guide – a lovely guy who was excellent at his job – looked totally bemused by the question and replied, “Toiret is evelywhere.”
Ramsay is EVERYWHERE.
Whatever, we’ve got Gordon showing us how to make pasta in this issue. It looks pretty good. But I haven’t got a pasta machine. Probably one of the very few kitchen gadgets in the known universe that I don’t have – maybe I should get one. But for now I think I’ll stick with Jamie’s hand-made version. Still, it’s an interesting article about making an “open ravioli” with wild mushrooms. I’ve never heard of an open ravioli before – it’s just bits of pasta in a sort of unstructured way. Whatever floats your boat, I suppose.
There’s another section on “Ready in 30″, and despite my disparaging comments about other quick and easy stuff elsewhere, this is usually helpful. You don’t want to spend all day every day in the kitchen.
There are several other features in this section, such as a recipe from a top chef, a recipe index for the issue, entertaining, etc. But, hey, I’m not writing a book here.
EAT OUT
Here we have restaurant news and views, critic’s choice, pro versus punter restaurant review, and a travel offer. It’s not going to be relevant to a lot of readers, depending on where you live, but it’s an interesting read anyway. I feel happy enough with this.
EAT AWAY
Barcelona is featured this month with a where to eat, shop, and stay guide. Or there’s 48 hours in Hong Kong. Or truffle hunting in Tuscany. Plus a competition to win a gourmet break in Japan.
OK, so how many of us are likely to be able to follow their advice? But I enjoy a bit of armchair travelling so I think it’s a good read.
NEED TO KNOW
This section includes readers’ letters, foodie news, classic martinis and boozy milkshakes, and various other useful and interesting articles and snippets. Overall, I like it. Great stuff! …BUT…
Oh no, don’t tell me that Olive is dumbing down in the same way as BBC Good Food did.
There is a feature on CHEFS’ WIVES. This kinda stuns me. I want to read about food, cooking, kitchen equipment and stuff like that. I DO NOT buy a food magazine to endure a four-page spread of stuff like this – most of it full or half-page photos of chefs’ wives trying to look like models. There’s a full-page glossy photo of Amber Nuttall showing her cleavage. Who she? Does anyone care? I’ve no idea whether it’s a good article or not because I haven’t read it. And won’t. I just don’t give a stuffed mushroom. Grrrr. Any more of this and there’ll be a letter to the editor soon…
EXPERT ADVICE
I’ve skimmed over the surface of some of the content as I was aware that this review was already rather long. All in all, I look forward to the magazine every month. I enjoy the contents. I get ideas from it. I sometimes make the things it suggests (the Scandinavian fish soup a few months back was pretty good). I take it down to our local beer shack and sit in the sun reading the articles. I like it – and if you've readany of my other reviews, you’ll know how fussy I am – so that’s not a bad recommendation. I just don’t want any more stuff about chefs’ wives.
|
|
|
|
Contributor's Note
This magazine review has been adapted from the original in my food blog http://www.notdelia.co.uk
|
|
|
|
|
