20 YEARS OF LEADING THE WAY IN FOOD
editor, who started working on the magazine in 2010
Two decades of being your best friend in the kitchen. It’s been emotional delving into the history of our (and your) treasured magazine and being reminded of how much we’ve achieved over the years: the campaigns we’ve launched; the trails we’ve blazed; the people we’ve championed; the stories we’ve told. At the heart of it all has been a commitment to community, empowerment and inclusion.
We’ve asked chefs and food writers (long-time friends of delicious.) to share their memories. Meanwhile our food team (all of whom were still at school when delicious. UK first came into being!) have each chosen a cover recipe from Christmases past and reimagined it for 2023.
Above all, thank you to you, our readers, for the myriad letters and emails you’ve sent, the recipes you’ve cooked, the suggestions you’ve made. We take heed of every comment, and you’ve played a huge part in making delicious. what it is today. KAREN BARNES
Looking back with nostalgia – yet looking forward to new, exciting times ahead…
NOVEMBER 2003… The supersonic jet Concorde took its last ever flight. England became Rugby World Cup champions after that extra-time Jonny Wilkinson drop goal – and a new food magazine launched that would set the trends and lead the conversation for the next 20 years*.
From the beginning, the mission of delicious. was to do things differently. To be beautiful without being intimidating; inspirational without being snobby; instructive without being bossy… Twenty years on, we’re still on that mission, and we like to think we’re doing pretty well.
The media world is very different today from how it was in 2003. Facebook was still a year away from launching (though LinkedIn and Myspace both began in 2003) and the iPhone was a mere twinkle in Steve Jobs’ eye (it appeared four years later). Now, in 2023, delicious. is no longer just a magazine. We’re a huge website, a popular social media presence, a video producer…
But the pleasures of sitting down with the latest issue of the magazine, enjoying its glossy heft in your hands, seeing a particularly gorgeous food photograph that provokes an instant “I HAVE to cook that!” moment – it’s all as potent today as it was 20 years ago.
With recent reports of digital-native young people starting to notice the tactile pleasures of magazines and newspapers, a mindful experience to enjoy away from the constant distracti
