Saying good-bye and au revior to my old friend Gourmet

I was very sad to read Conde-Nast’s announcement that it would cease publication of Gourmet magazine after the November issue. I’ve read with great interest the recent stories written by people in the food world and their various opinions as to why a nearly seventy year old publication such as Gourmet would fold. While some have had controversial opinions that stirred up a bit of backlash and name calling on the internet, others reminisced about what made Gourmet what it was and those were a joy to read.

As my way of saying good-bye, I’ve included some favorite covers from my Gourmet collection.

The New York Times reported that one of the first things Gourmet’s editor in chief Ruth Reichl did after telling her staff that the publisher was closing Gourmet was to lock up the library with its collection of 70 years of cookbooks and typewritten recipes. Then she and her staff gathered bottles of wine and liquor from the office and held a wake in her apartment. Good for you Ruth. I hope you opened the good stuff.

The article went on the say that for an older generation it was a place where people learned how to cook and eat. “Gourmet was the only resource you had other than your cookbooks,” said Judy Walker, the food editor of New Orleans Times-Picayune. So true Judy. Gourmet was the first food magazine I subscribed to and we had to rely on our cookbooks. I learned my knife skills from the black and white drawings in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, one of my favorite cookbooks.

I don’t know if or when the lights will go out on Gourmet’s website or their archives after the transitional period, but here’s what they say: “The Gourmet.com website will remain available during a transitional period and access to Gourmet recipes will also remain available via sister site epicurious.com and the EPI Iphone application.”

I suggest you pop over to Gourmet’s Archives while you still can, because the archives contain a lot of good articles you won’t want to miss.

For example, Jacques Pepin’s tells Gourmet everything he ate and drank in a 24 hour period: “I love English muffins, so sometimes I’ll have half an English muffin with some jam that I might make, but that’s the most I would ever do for breakfast. [The voice of his wife, Gloria, in the background: “Corn flakes!”] Oh yes, I love corn flakes. I have them sometimes for lunch, but I haven’t had them in a long time.” Read more….

Or how about a charming story from Wolfgang Punk when he talks about fixing his children breakfast: “I have two small sons, Oliver and Alexander. One is four and one is two and a half. They come into our bedroom in the morning and say, “Papa, let’s make pancakes.” So I make pancakes and oatmeal for the kids. The little one prefers oatmeal most of the time and Oliver, the older one, eats pancakes.” Read more…

Laura Shapiro writes about what happened to James Beard: “Food lovers everywhere recognize his name, thanks to the James Beard Foundation and its well-publicized annual awards. But apart from the awards, usually given out around the time of his birthday, Beard has pretty much disappeared. He was a colossus in American cookery, and now he’s barely a memory. What happened?” Read more…

Can you name the twenty-five people who have changed food in America? It's in the Archives.

Good-bye old friend. I’ll miss you.