20 Great Food Magazines You Should Know About Slideshow

Acqtaste is a Canadian publication that is "trying to be more than just a food magazine but rather, the voice of a food movement around the world." Once you get past that, there are beautiful photos and in-depth articles, with the most recent one focusing on New York. A single copy is $18 or a subscription for four issues is $64 plus shipping. 

Run out of Washington, D.C., this one is intentionally quirky. "Our goal is to capture the pleasure and playfulness of eating through imaginative, delicious (and sometimes made up) recipes, illustration, storytelling, and collage." The most recent issue focuses on breakfasts and prides itself on "highlighting mostly recipes that you would in no way ever want to make at home." No gastro porn photos here. Pick up a copy on etsy.com. 

A recent award-winner for design, "Swallow is the anti-foodie food magazine, a palate-pleasing respite from gastronomic faddism," according to their website. It's also a hardcover book, published about once a year, with each issue focusing on a different "often over-looked" destination. Next up: Mexico City (and the issue supposedly smells like Mexico City, with scratch-and-sniff features). Each issue costs $30 including shipping and they're available for order online. 

If you know what an ort is, you've come to the right place. "Since 2001 we've been renewing the connection between sensual and intellectual nourishment by offering readers a taste of passionate inquiry through scholarship, humor, fiction, poetry, and exciting visual imagery," explains Gastromica's website. Published quarterly, it's $50 per year with discounts for students and seniors. 

This one may be near and dear to many New Yorkers' hearts. It's "the magazine of Hudson Valley farms, food, and cuisine." More of a traditional food magazine, it covers restaurants, farms, distilleries, food-related events, and more along the Hudson Valley. Free copies are available at local restaurants and food stores or subscriptions are $20 for four issues. 

Do you have fond memories of reading the back of the cereal box as you ate breakfast? The founders of Cereal did and they'd like to become your morning read. That is, if you have enough time to read the lengthy articles before you leave for the office. If not, the photos are beautiful. It's about $54 plus shipping and is published quarterly. 

Imagine if you will a food magazine with recipes, and lots of them! Diner Journal is published by a group of Brooklyn, N.Y., restaurateurs and is proudly "ad-free and three hole-punched since 2006," making it one of the longest lasting of the indie food magazines. It's published three to four times a year, and a one-year subscription is $40 while single copies (available at many bookstores and boutiques) are $12. 

This magazine "is about the best food and wine — what they are, how they are produced, where to find them (the farms, markets, shops, restaurants)," according to their website. Founded in 1986, this is one of the original indie magazines. Good writing and a love for the subject matter make this a classic. It's available for $52 a year for four issues.

More of a newsletter than a magazine, Simple Cooking is a series of beautifully written essays, ranging from a look at the part peanuts play in African food to how to fry chicken skins without making a mess for a midnight snack. The newsletter's run will conclude with their 100th issue, so a seven-issue subscription is $35 online only. 

If a monthly dose of Martha Stewart isn't enough for you, grab a copy of Sweet Paul. With beautiful photos, lots of recipes, and craft projects for all that spare time you have, it's a traditional-looking, pretty magazine (one of a few that has advertising). It sells for $18 for a single copy or $60 for a four-issue subscription and it has limited retail distribution. 

If green isn't your color, you may want to skip this little indie. "Put A Egg On It is an irreverent digest-sized art and literary magazine out of New York City printed on green paper about food, cooking, and the communal joys of eating with friends and family." It's $28 for a year (four copies) or $5 for a single issue. Available online and in some bookstores. 

The thought behind the Canadian quarterly Anna is to "make everyday special." Like certain runway models, it's beautiful, if a little light-weight. But if you need someone to tell you to cut toast into heart shapes, spend $54 a year and you'll get four issues. 

White Zinfandel "is devoted to the visual manifestation of food and culture produced within the lives of creative individuals." Got that? It's $20 per issue, available at galleries and museums or online.  

This indie is all about growing things — plants mostly, but urban chickens make an occasional appearance. Beautiful photos make you want to go out and plant anything and everything. As they say, the magazine is "just your everyday mix of growing enthusiasts. Wilder is for this generation of nature lovers and the next." One year is $59.99, a lifetime subscription is $895, or it's $18.95 a copy. Also available at select stores. 

This is a small, calm magazine, and each issue has a different color and  theme, the most recent being "risk." Interesting, well-written stories introduce recipes you'll probably want to make. It's $7.50 an issue or $28 per year, and it's available online or at some retailers. 

If Lady Gaga's skirt steak dress made you run to the butcher, this is your magazine! "Meatpaper is a print magazine of art and ideas about meat. We like metaphors more than marinating tips," they say. Not to worry, though, they do give a lot of ink to fish, too; in fact, the most recent issue is their "Fishue." Four quarterly issues are $28, available on their website.

The polar opposite of Meatpaper, Chickpea is focused on vegans. People always say that it is really difficult to be vegan, and reading this will give you a good idea of what some of the challenges are. No matter what, this is a beautiful publication, with ideas and recipes anyone can enjoy. Available for $70 per year or $20 an issue online and in select retail stores. 

Imagine Martha Stewart with a Portland, Ore., sensibility and you have Kinfolk. With vintage-looking photos, it claims to be "a blueprint for a balanced, intentional lifestyle." It retails for $65 for four volumes or $24 for a single copy. Available at bookstores and cooking shops as well as online.