Olive Magazine

I would love to subscribe to Olive, but I can't justify it. I understand the subscription includes airmail, but STILL! I can buy single issues at a store near my home, and even at retail prices, 12 issues cost less than does a subscription.

But, to give you an idea how good a magazine this is, every single month I deliberately make the trek to the store to buy a copy.

If you were looking at a marketing description, Olive would seem like Real Simple, or a magazine of its ilk, but somehow I find it more satisfying than those perfectly nice publications that I never find anything that makes me say, "Let's make that this weekend." I'm not sure how to describe the reasons why.

Olive could be subtitled "Food, Wine, and Travel for busy people," because it emphasizes tasty meals without fuss. Each issue has a section with 5-10 dinners you can get on the table in 30 minutes; plus a "weekend cooking" section for the dishes you're willing to fiddle with; plus a section on cooking what's fresh in the market right now. (The issue I picked up today has three recipes that feature peas, for instance.) It ranges from exotic Thai curries to fish and chips. There are also restaurant reviews and travel (more "travel for foodies" -they expend some energy telling you where to eat).

I have cooked at least one dish from nearly every issue, and every single one of them has been a winner. These aren't necessarily "company cooking," though some of the recipes certainly qualify. However, their "fast food" section is exactly what I want: a real meal that's feasible in the middle of the week. Among my favorites is a chicken-mushroom-wine stew in pastry. It really DID take a half hour, start to finish, in part because it instructs you to use store-bought puff pastry. And man, was it tasty.

That would be enough... but the fun extra is that this is a British magazine, put out by the BBC. When they do taste-tests of tea or chocolate or ketchup, the brands are what's available in the UK. Although I recognize a few brands, the results aren't terribly useful; but I think it's a hoot. (What can I say? My idea of a cool thing to do on vacation in a foreign country is to go grocery shopping.) Nor are most of the restaurant reviews likely to be relevant; but then, a NY Times restaurant review isn't going to help me, either. I can still enjoy it.

I can't imagine you'll spend this kind of money without seeing an issue. If you've seen a copy and wondered if its quality holds up... I assure you, it does. The only food magazine that I think is of equal quality in the U.S. is Fine Cooking, and it has a different angle.

I came across "Olive" when I was in London this past May (2005). It was a free supplement to that month's issue of "BBC Good Homes", so I wasn't expecting much originally. Am I ever glad I didn't just toss it in the bin as I would normally do!

"Olive" is devoted to cooking that is, as my title suggests, simple, elegant and healthy. Great editorial photography makes that food look great, and all its' recipes use readily available ingredients. Each recipe is short, telling you what you need and how to prepare it, and not much more. Sidebars or runners at the bottom of the page contain info related to the recipes, such as how to cook the perfect steak (i.e., "bring the steak to room temperature; use a very hot pan" and "oil the meat not the pan"). Under the section "Fast Food", one of these recipes was for Mini Wellingtons, has only 5 ingredients and is ready in 30 minutes. Another section details how to make a signature Nobu (the famed sushi restaurant in NYC & London) dish, Cod with Miso, and the recipe isn't at all intimidating (although obtaining some of this dish's ingredients might be difficult unless you have access to an Asian market or similar online site). GI Diet followers can also benefit from "Olive" as nearly all the recipes contain GI-related nutritional information. Chef Gordon Ramsay also edits a column and shares his favorite tips and recipes.

The only reason I give "Olive" 4 stars instead of 5 is because many recipes contain both metric and imperial measures. However, conversion info for the metric measures is easily available online. "Olive" also uses British stove/oven indications, such as "heat the oven too 200C/fan 180/Gas 6" but I was easily able to convert these to Fahrenheit.

So why subscribe to "Olive" instead of an American cooking magazine? If you are like me, American Cooking magazines can be frustrating, in that recipes are often (and unneccessarily, IMO) complicated, and better suited to those who cook for the purpose of entertaining large groups of people. Many healthy cooking magazines don't contain GI Index info, and fail to present it in an easily understood way. Many cooking magazines 'on this side of the pond' also are chock-full of ads, and you have to get through them before you can get to the recipes or information that prompted you to buy the mag in the first place. "Olive" is clean, uncluttered, and appeallingly presented. What's not to like?

Buy Olive Magazine Now

This magazine is by far the best food, travel magazine out. A bit on the expensive side due to it coming from BBC in England but worth every pound...dollar.

Read Best Reviews of Olive Magazine Here

This magazine flies off the shelf in my epicurian publishing company library. The staff loves itboth foodies editors and non-editors alike. Your only challenge will the need of a scale to measure dry ingredients.

Want Olive Magazine Discount?

So my sister-in-law (in the UK) has raved about how good this magazine is, but I just can't justify spending $130 for a subscription. BUT, it's available as an iPad app for $22! And yes. Great magazine. So this is more of an FYI than anything. :)