Paper Palate

One of the best things about writing in a blog is that you get readers from across the globe. Because of the two-way nature of blog communication, readers and bloggers can become friends, and cross-cultural communication can bring about meaningful understanding between people who live in very different places.

As soon as I knew I would be editing The Paper Palate, I decided to ask my readers at Tigers & Strawberries what their favorite cooking magazines are, and why. It was my very own form of market research, primitive though it was, and I learned a great deal from the comments.

I also, through the kindness of one of my regular readers, was gifted with a handful of cooking magazines from Asia to peruse, and I thought I would share my findings here.

She sent me four cooking magazines: two Singaporan, and two Malaysian. All four of them are bilingual to greater or lesser degrees, with information in both Chinese and English, and all four of them are distributed both through newstand sales and subscriptions. All of them are four-color, glossy, full-sized publications with professional production values printed on high quality paper. Each of them is very attractive, but in different ways, so I would like to give a brief overview of the strengths and weaknesses of each magazine.

Eat! is an English-lanugage, funky, kinda hip magazine that is obviously geared toward the younger crowd. Published monthly in Singapore, Eat! focuses on food, though it also features profiles of celebrities talking about their favorite foods and health regime. (The issue I have, November 2005 has an interview with Hong Kong music and comedy star, Chao Mimi.) There are short restaurant reviews, and product reviews, and a good selection of topical articles. The November issue focused on spices, so there general articles on spices, a profile of a spice merchant, and an article on vanilla. There was also an article on the secrets of Italian food.

The photography was quite good, with stylish use of bright color and textural contrasts, without being too outre. The recipes were of two sorts: a small number were from cooking instructors or chefs and featured innovative use of both Western and Eastern ingredients and techniques in a beautiful show of what fusion cuisine could be. The other recipes were featured in recipe card inserts, and contained a great many packaged and brand-name ingredients that were pictured along with the finished dish. These seemed more geared toward the harried homemaker and rushed student or young professional, and while they were not as interesting, and they smacked of advertising in the form of recipes, they were still photographed beautifully. All in all, Eat! comes across as a fun magazine, especially for someone who is young and who doesn’t know a lot about food but really wants to learn.The bi-lingual GourmetLiving, also from Singapore, takes a different approach. Here, the emphasis is more on recipes, most of them very strongly influenced by Chinese tradition and medicine. Many of the articles are presented soley in Chinese, but all of the recipes are presented in both Chinese and English. They feature clear instructions, and emphasize the health aspects of the ingredients and and their combination.

The photography, again, is lovely, though the look of the photographs is more conservative, with less emphasis on brilliant colors and funky framing. There is more of a traditional Chinese aesthetic sense at work in the art direction, with many of the dishes looking as if they had been prepared by the hands Ang Lee’s Master Chef in “Eat, Drink, Man, Woman.”

I just wish that the articles that were obviously about the medicinal properties of common Chinese ingredients had been in English!

The least bilingual magazine, Malaysia’s Se Xiang Wei, also seemed to have a lot of really cool articles on kitchen design, travel to India, and the development of satay. The photography was also quite good in the magazine, which made my inability to read Chinese even more frustrating, as I could just tell that I was missing something fascinating, but couldn’t do anything about it.

But the recipes, many of which were unique, were also printed in English. This magazine featured readers’ recipes (which is always interesting to someone who likes to know what people in ordinary households around the world cook) and some of them were just too fascinating for me to pass up. My favorite one was Lemon Coke Pork, a stir fried dish that includes Coca Cola as an ingredient. As a hillbilly who grew up with folks around her using Coke as a ham glaze and 7-UP in cakes, I cannot help but be fascinated by the the fact that there are folks in Asia doing the same damned thing. So, of course, I have to try it.

Last, but not least, is the English-language bimonthly Flavours. This is the most upscale of the four magazines, with the strongest Western look and feel. Everything about this magazine is slick: the paper, the photography, the writing–everything is made to appeal to those who have the money to spend on foie gras and champagne, or at least, who want to dream about having that much money while reading about people who do. The editors, in recognition that not every one of their readers has the cash to do cook like the chefs on their pages, presents three different holiday dinner party menus, designed around three vastly different budgets.

Most of the recipes are European in origin, but there is often a little twist on them that makes it obvious to the careful reader that this magazine is Asian: two recipes pair dark chocolate with star anise (yes, I will test at least one of them, do not fear). Nearly half of the magazine is taken up by articles on mixed drinks, champagnes and wines, including some drinks that look so delicious that upon seeing them I wanted to be a bartender again.

The articles are in-depth and well-written and the photography is the most sophisticated of the group, with a great balance of color, texture and composition. The issue I had included a large section of detailed book reviews, careful restaurant reviews and a listing of cooking classes, all of which look like they are regular features of the magazine.

All in all, Flavours was my favorite of the four, though I wished that there had been more emphasis on Asian cooking and less on European. However, I recognize that the point is probably to present a blend of European and Asian cooking in the magazine, and my wish is basically a selfish one that arises from there being no full-color glossy magazine in the US that is geared totally toward Asian foods.

So there we are–a round up of the Asian cooking magazines that I have managed to get my grubby hands upon. I am sure that there are more of them out there, just waiting to be discovered; if any readers know of any–or of any English language or partially English language magazines from anywhere else in the world, let me know. Or, if you are really kind, send me some of them if you are finished reading them–I will gladly pay the postage, and if you want, I will send American magazines in return.

Look for some recipes from these rare and now treasured magazines to appear here in the next few weeks, and until then, happy cooking and reading.

(The author wishes to thank and bless reader and friend Shirley Lim for so generously sending these magazines along, all the way from Singapore. Look for goodies in your mail someday in the future, Shirley!)