BBC Good Food Magazine
I recently subscribed to this magazine (needing a bit of inspiration!) under a 3 for Rs90 taster offer, which I thought was a good deal.
What’s it like?
This is a monthly magazine which has a cover price of Rs300 and it is printed on good quality paper, with a glossy front cover and the latest issue (June) has 146 pages. There is also an accompanying website, bbcgoodfood.com.
It also had an extra booklet with recipes for barbecues this month too. The front cover states that this month the magazine offers:
~Eat in for less ~Simply seasonal recipes ~Kids cook Father’s Day brunch ~Celebrate with a cake - 1 recipe, 3 ways to decorate ~Healthy suppers to make you feel good ~Gordon Ramsay - Step-by-step stylish seafood ~James Martin - New recipes ~Everyday easy - a month of midweek meals
There is a recipe index at the front of the magazine which is quite handy for looking up recipes you may fancy. The magazine starts with an editors letter and as well as the usual gorgeous pictures and accompanying recipes there are also additional features such as:
~Cooking news, tips and best buys ~A letters page ~Books for cooks page ~A help page where readers write in with problems ~A test page - this month the product tested is lemon curd ~Behind the scenes at the Good Food Show ~Grow your own herbs for cooks ~What’s on tv for cooks this month ~Gordon Ramsey’s masterclass
Opinion
I quite liked the balance of recipes and articles in this magazine and was also pleased to see that there were only 5 pages of classifieds. There were plenty of advertisements as you would expect, but I didn’t mind these as much as I do in fashion magazines. This is probably because I might actually buy and eat some of these products!
I also like how the recipes are rated according to ease - or not! The recipes also give an indication of preparation time and cooking time. Some of the recipes also have the cost per serving worked out, which I thought was useful.
There are also symbols denoting whether you can freeze the recipe and if it is suitable for vegetarians.
There was a good balance of savoury and sweet recipes. When buying a magazine like this, for myself I didn’t want recipes that were too fancy, difficult or required obscure ingredients and in the main this magazine fulfilled this. Yes, there were some recipes that I would class as ’posh’, such as ’Crispy squid with caponata’, but maybe everyone has this for their evening meal and sausage, chips and beans (at our house) is a bit common!! I didn’t find the magazine patronizing in tone at all and the photos are fab to get you in the mood for cooking! This month’s magazine had a 50p off voucher towards some Swartz spice mixes, but I don’t know if money off coupons are a regular occurrence. There did seem to be a bit of emphasis on budget cooking which I thought was quite useful, as everyone is looking to save a few pennies.
I have also subscribed to Olive which I will review later, but I have to say that in comparison this magazine is a bit more down to earth and not as snobby. Overall, I think I will perhaps subscribe to this magazine for a while to continue to get some new ideas and will also visit the associated website for inspiration. I hope that it isn’t going to be a case of spending my time looking at photos and then just cooking the same old meals, we will have to see...
Availability
The cover price I think is a little expensive and I wouldn’t like to buy it from the newsagents. I would rather take out a subscription either through an intermediary website or use Tesco Clubcard Vouchers. I noticed that on subscription it arrives earlier than when it appears in the shops.
If you buy it through the magazine group uk you will save 15% on an annual subscription Rs3000 and can save a further 15% by going via topcashback. Alternatively I think the bbc are offering 3 for Rs 90 on a taster promotion at the minute.