Blog Tue Mar 06 2007

Eating through Pictures

I used to subscribe to Martha Stewart Living, but not because I needed recipe and home decorating suggestions; I bought the magazine for the lush photography. The images of crawfish boils in the Bayou, cookie decorating parties with well-dressed children, and planning your next Moroccan-themed dinner party transported me to a glorious world where forty-course meals are made in under three hours, and no one uses boxed cake mix. Ever.

Thankfully for me, I can now reach through to the other side with the Traveler's Lunchbox, a recipe blog created by Melissa Kronenthal, an American grad student living in Scotland who combines her love of travel and cooking into a charming, well-organized site.

Her recipes are accompanied by clever and compelling introductions; for example, a breakup with a boyfriend who "tended to eye anything that hadn't been mashed, boiled or deep-fried with no small amount of skepticism" led to her discovery of Makhouda D'Aubergine, an incredibly tasty North African fritatta-like dish, which she makes in a moment of post-relationship spite. "I'm much happier having the makhouda around instead of him," she concludes.

The recipes are relatively easy to make, and while the site leans heavily on desserts, it offers a range of delicacies from the author's travels and cooking research. Also, if you're planning to head to Europe anytime soon, you have a list of her recommended restaurants, dishes and shops for several countries at the ready.

The best part of the Traveler's Lunchbox is the photography. The recipes are accompanied by colorful, intimate, and inviting images of the final dish. I was (once again) reminded that the best way to eat food is not from a plastic plate from Ikea while standing over the kitchen sink.

A keen sense of storytelling and incredible photography makes the Traveler's Lunchbox enjoyable for anyone looking for new cooking suggestions, or a new place for food gawking.

— Robyn Nisi / Comments (0)