Periodicals For Your Perusal

Despite our best efforts, and much to the chagrin of trees everywhere, websites like Taste T.O. have yet to kill off the traditional paper magazine. I guess people still aren't comfortable taking their laptops to the bathroom. Which is fine by us, really, as we feel kind of icky about the idea of you reading the site while you're doing.... uh, that.

We still want to be helpful, though, so here are a few things that you can read instead:

So fresh that we haven't even picked up a copy yet, the Winter 2007/08 issue of Edible Toronto was released yesterday. Based on a skim of the contents on the website, it looks like a good read, with articles including: an introduction to fruit wines by Charmian Christie; a history of traditional winter puddings by Elizabeth Driver; a look at artisanal carrots by David Cohlmeyer; a feature on some of Toronto's top breadmakers by Daphna Rabinovitch; a roadtrip to Collingwood with Lauren Carter; and much more. Edible Toronto is distributed for free at many locations in the city and throughout the Golden Horseshoe, and all of the articles can also be downloaded from the website in PDF format.

Also hot off the press is the Winter 2007/08 issue of TAPS, subtitled Canada's Beer Magazine. While past issues were aimed towards the fratboy/macro-swill set, with such features as "Canada's Sexiest Barmaid" and the like, new publisher Rob Engman has dropped the lad mag elements and has shifted the focus to beer exclusively. For the sake of full disclosure, I should mention that I contributed a feature article on pilsner which is the first in a series of beer style features that I'll be writing for TAPS. This issue also includes: a feature on England's Wychwood Brewery; full coverage of the recent Canadian Brewing Awards; beer and food pairing tips from brewmaster Bill White; several articles by "Canada's Pub Guy" Bill Perrie; a column by beer blogger Troy Burtch; and plenty more. TAPS is available at Chapters and Indigo, via subscription, and soon at some of Toronto's better bars and pubs.

The December 2007 issue of City Bites has been out for a couple of weeks now, and the cover story reveals 20 of Toronto's best meals of the last 12 months as selected by editor Dick Snyder and a number of the magazine's regular contributors. Other articles in this issue include: a holiday cookbook list from Malcom Jolley; a coffee grinder showdown by Maureen Argon; a look at some chef's knives - and the chefs who love them - by Signe Langford; Stephen Beaumont on whisky and John Szabo on wine; and yes, a whole lot more. Look for City Bites and many of Toronto's restaurants and fine food emporiums, or download the entire issue as a PDF file.

And finally, our conspiracy theories about Toronto Life are growing, as they continue to play games with our subscription. Past issues have continually arrived late - and in the case of last month's issue, not at all, even after a redelivery request earlier this month. And while the January 2008 issue arrived in a relatively timely fashion a couple of weeks ago, the binding wasn't properly glued, so we were left with a stack of unattached paper, which made it a real pain to read on the toilet. We managed to get through it, though, and found it contained the usual assortment of food and drink coverage including: James Chatto on the sad state of Toronto's school lunches; Andrea Curtis on the pressure of modern day bake sales; Signe Langford with foodie shopping suggestions and a hunt for Toronto's best tarte tatin; David Lawrason on wines for holiday gift giving; a preview of L'Unita; Rob Mifsud on anticuchos; and Sasha Chapman on chefs who make their own butter. Toronto Life is available everywhere. Good luck finding a copy that doesn't fall apart.