Gourmet Magazine's Legacy of Good Living
I’m rarely at a loss for words. I don’t know where to start on this one. Like many of you, I received news that Gourmet magazine is closing its doors, and the November issue will be its last. Having worked at Gourmet right out of college between 1989 and 1995, Gourmet is near and dear to my heart. It’s part of my soul.
While at Gourmet, I learned the ins and outs of publishing there. I learned how to edit recipes and how to proofread and fact check for accuracy and details. I attended many cooking schools and received my first byline for “The Cook’s Corner” column which I wrote monthly.
Back then, as I sat at my little desk in the magazine’s fabulous library each day and edited recipes and columns, I had the amazing good fortune of interacting with its longtime editors, writers, stylists, and readers. My education there went well beyond my meager paycheck. I learned so many things that I can hardly begin to recount them. But, I will relay the most valuable life lesson inadvertently gleaned while laboring over galleys and manuscripts each day. Funnily enough, that universal lesson is now more important than ever.
At the time, Mrs. Jane Montant was the Editor-in-Chief. Mrs Montant is now deceased, but she was a fabulous gal who made her pithy opinions and thoughts known. When her assistant would go on vacation, I’d become Mrs. Montant’s assistant and would sit right outside her door, answering her phone and shepherding galleys into her hands for final approval.
As many of you know, Gourmet’s subtitle is “The Magazine of Good Living.” Mrs. Montant had worked at the magazine under the original owner, Earle R. MacAusland. Mrs Montant was loyal to Mr. MacAusland’s mission and often reminded us what “Good Living” really meant.
She’d often tell us that Good Living did indeed involve trips to fabulous country houses and seaside villas. Of course, it involved fabulous croissants in Paris and truffles in Italy she’d tell us. But, more importantly, she reminded us that Good Living could be found in the simplest things, such as a perfect cup of tea served in a beautiful bone china tea cup. She’d often tell us that Good Living didn’t have to involve a lot of money or travel to far flung places. It really just involved an appreciation for the littlest things right here at home.
I’ve taken this philosophy to heart for many years now, and it continues to guide me on a daily basis. Of course, I love to travel and dine out. But, I realize that I can only have those luxuries in fits and starts. I’ve learned to take pleasure in life’s little luxuries—a great local oyster cooked over the campfire or a day cruising on the Puget Sound with the wind in my face and my children at my side.
Given our current state of economic affairs, its ironic that the Good Living legacy has been silenced. After all, it’s a philosophy that's more important now than ever. So, may Gourmet’s all-American legacy of Good Living shine bright even as its library and offices go dark.
Photo by Melissa A. Trainer
--Melissa A. Trainer
Leslie Kelly on October 05, 2009 at 04:37 PM
This is a lovely tribute Melissa. Thanks for sharing.
I think many food lovers have fond memories of Gourmet. I'm still using recipes I clipped ages ago.
Lockestep on October 06, 2009 at 06:06 AM
My "go-to" cookbook is the Gourmet cookbook put together by Ruth Reichl. I start there, and only if I don't see something inspiring and do-able will I go to my other books and Epicurious for ideas.
The only good that comes of the closing is my trip to the Amazon site to get the correct spelling of Ruth's name, and to my delight I see a new version of the cookbook, "Gourmet Today", with 1,000 more things to try. It just hit my wishlist. Only 79 more days 'till Christmas, after all.
Ira Stoll on October 06, 2009 at 09:50 AM
I have my own take on the end of Gourmet here:
http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2009/10/gourmet-hot-dogs-and-anti-trust
Bob R on October 06, 2009 at 12:37 PM
I'm sorry to see Gourmet fold. I've been a reader since 1972 subscriber since 1977 and recently re-subscribed. I haven't read Bon Appetit for years so cannot say if I'll be happy to take it for my remaining Gourmet issues. I will say that I thought Gourmet has departed from Ms. Trainor's "Magazine of Good Living" and morphed into the "Magazine of Correct Living as Told by Celebrity Foodies". Too many recipes that stated, e.g."vanilla, preferably Madagascar", and too many paeans to rich and famous -- I never cared much about what Alice Waters thinks about sustainably raised tomatoes. [Sigh.] There will be one less [Food] People magazine at the checkout stand.
Clint Laing on October 07, 2009 at 04:07 AM
Alas, those fleeting moments of culinary ecstasy are gone with the wind, But they are oh, so precious: my first taste (I was raised in the Midwest) of fresh crab, in a crab cocktail in a bar on SF's Fisherman's Wharf; the dry scallops at the Riptide in Chester, VA; and the rest of those very few, perfect experiences. You can't digitally record those moments, so the memories are so much more vivid. Now, of we could only extend the metaphor to moments shared with people, and retain them, as vividly as we do our foodie highlights.
Robert Turner on October 08, 2009 at 09:39 AM
In some ways I am quite sad about the demise of this magazine. In some other ways I think it pretty much got what it deserved.
Gourmet was just one year younger than me. When I was just a kid and could never dream of affording to buy a magazine, I discovered and read it at the library in my little Midwest town. In 1958 my first actual subscription started and ran until the Army got me in 1963. When I returned from a tour of duty in Korea, the base book store sold me a copy of The Gourmet Cookbook. In reading and use I pretty much committed that book to memory. I still have the poor old thing, but now it is tied with string and only comes out on very rare occasions.
In the early 1980s the entire format of the magazine was changed to make it slick and hip I guess, but it didn't set well with me and I canceled my subscription on moral grounds. Historically the magazine was adorned with original drawings and artwork and even some poetry to enhance certain articles. It appealed to both the palate and the soul and the makeover just destroyed it. In 2000 they kept offering such bargain basement subscriptions that I got weak and tried it out again. This time I left it on technical merits. Virtually everything they photographed was burned. A careful examination of a Thanksgiving cover showed that the turkey was not just well done, the bird was actually charred. I abided that style for a while until they deliberately invented the "used plate" routine. Beautiful food was prepared, plated, and then messed about with to make sure the plates and platters were littered with crumbs, other bits, sauces gone awry, and dirty flatware. Since that cancellation I have never let them darken my mailbox again.
On the other hand, Savuer magazine exhibits the joy and enthusiasm for food that the "old" Gourmet provided, and I eagerly await its arrival and the delight and diversion it provides.
Your affetionate remembrance Melissa was very nicely done. Thanks.
greek holidays on October 09, 2009 at 11:55 PM
In some ways I am quite sad about the demise of this magazine. In some other ways I think it pretty much got what it deserved.