It must have been some time around age 13 when I started my love affair with cooking magazines and food writing in general. I had read through all my mother's cookbooks many a time, and was gaining an interest in what other people cooked and ate. I would check out old issues of Bon Appetit and Gourmet from the library, then buy them (or beg Mom to!) once in a while from the newsstand, which ultimately led to my asking for a subscription to Gourmet for my birthday (at age 14? 15?). I remember reading these magazines cover to cover, relishing each word, staring at the photos, trying to dream about what the dishes would taste like. I don't recall whether I was actually cooking any of the recipes or simply drooling on the pages; if I wasn't cooking, at least it gave me an academic perspective on food culture, ingredients, and high-end restaurants where I'd likely never dine. Ruth Reichl was the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine around the time I started to read it.