Lucky Peach Issue 1: Amazon.ca: David Chang, Chris Ying: Books

Product Description

Lucky Peach is a new journal of food writing, published on a quarterly basis. It’s a creation of David Chang, the chef behind the Momofuku restaurants in New York, writer Peter Meehan, and Zero Point Zero Production — producers of the Emmy Award–winning Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. Each issue explores a single topic through a mélange of travelogue, essays, art, photography, interviews, rants, and, of course, recipes.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com ^(beta)

Amazon.com: 4.3 out of 5 stars (30 customer reviews)

32 of 37 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A foodie magazine with a rock-and-roll attitude, July 7 2011

By Gwendolyn Dawson "Literary License" - Published on Amazon.com

This review is from: Lucky Peach Issue 1 (Paperback)

Lucky Peach is a foodie magazine with a rock-and-roll attitude. Published quarterly by McSweeney's (beginning with the Summer 2011 issue), the magazine is loaded with the McSweeney's brand of quirky style. The design is hip and eye-catching with lots of original artwork and full-color photographs. The articles are substantive and well-written and contain a variety of styles (travel journaling, interviews, transcribed conversations, traditional essays, etc.). There's even a short story titled "The Gourmet Club." Perhaps best of all, there are no advertisements.

The Summer 2011 issue focuses on ramen, and the level of detail and research into the subject is impressive. I particularly enjoyed the map of Japan annotated with the different types of ramen that can be found in various regions. I was motivated to search my own city (Houston) for some good ramen choices after learning so much about a dish I previously associated only with mediocre dehydrated, microwavable meals.

There are some well-known writers featured in this debut issue of Lucky Peach. For example, Anthony Bourdain discusses David Chang's culinary influences, and Ruth Reichl rates instant raman brands. Even better are some of the essays by lesser-known names. I particularly enjoyed Todd Kliman's piece on the authenticity of food. This isn't a magazine that's loaded with hundreds of recipes. There are only twenty or so, and many of them are quite complicated (homemade gnocchi using crushed ramen noodles?). One recipe (corn with miso butter) takes the form of several haikus. I'm tempted to try it just to see if it works out, but I expect I'll be reading my Lucky Peach more often than cooking from it. I do like how the recipes are presented in a unique graphical way--almost like flow charts.

Overall, this debut issue of Lucky Peach is a success. It's unlike any other food magazine being published right now. It offers high-quality food writing and gorgeous art in abundance, detailed recipes with tips and photographs, and lots of attitude.

A word of warning: there's some cursing in here. It didn't bother me overly much (though some of it did seem gratuitious), but you might want to exercise discretion about leaving this magazine lying about for your young children (or prudish grandmother) to discover.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Note recipe corrections, Aug 18 2011

By J. Mach "daemon of the kitchen" - Published on Amazon.com

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Lucky Peach Issue 1 (Paperback)

This magazine certainly has plenty of attitude and hipness, but is you decide to try the alkaline noodles, note that the amount of baked soda should be 4 teaspoons, not 4 Tablespoons. The correction is listed here: [...]

Apart from the corrections, the magazine is a highly variable mix of interesting writing by such authors as John Edge, Harold McGee, and Ruth Reichel, and lazy page-fillers seemingly re-purposed from an initial attempt at a TV show. For example, the 9-page conversation with Bourdain, Chang, and Dufrense on "Mediocrity" is itself, truly mediocre. I hope that as the authors run out of TV footage, they will find their stride with this magazine, because some sections are truly inspired-- the chopstick wrappers alone are deeply amusing. Only subsequent issues will tell if the authors can get over themselves sufficiently to make this venture a real peach.

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Four Thumbs Up!., July 22 2011

By Borderbumble - Published on Amazon.com

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)

This review is from: Lucky Peach Issue 1 (Paperback)

FINALLY!!! A Foodie Magazine for the Intellectual Folk without the Snobbery!

I must admit that I rarely buy magazines about food. To many ads. The diet isn't my own. Too much hearts and flowers. I wished for something with GUTS -- preferably not hanging out of anyone's belly, of course. So imagine my surprise when my peripheral vision keyed in on the strangest title in the teeny cooking section at my local grocery story... LUCKY PEACH.

HUHUHUH????

The graphic art hooked me. I didn't need to thumb though the rest. Okay, the cover stating that this was a Ramen issue grabbed me, too. So I bought it... I think I'll have to buy another one because I've been dragging around this copy everywhere with me on errands.

Talk about foodie mag mating with an engineering journal. I couldn't believe the flow-charts for the recipes!! I loved the history surrounding the instant ramen -- reminds me of Spam!!

I shall DEFINITELY be subscribing to this Quarterly. And if you are totally bored with food critic snobs who don't cook or the flakey-headed chefs who use up every pan in the house when making a meal, check this out!!!!!

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 30 reviews 4.3 out of 5 stars