November 19, 2008

Debbie Does Dishes

“Swallow Magazine” Inaugural Issue

And you thought your food fetish was a little unsavory.

Clear your (deep) throat for Swallow Magazine, a new meticulously crafted, hard-bound publication for the gastronomically gripped.

Creative director and NYC local James Casey (with London photog John Short) brings the unexpected to the plate. The inaugural Nordic issue (published biannually, by world region) explores a Greenland hunters market, Finland’s lonely top chef, and a ’70s Swedish porn flick starring an enormous smoked sausage (no euphemism here).

Spectacular shots of salted licorice, magic mushrooms, and jellied trotters round things out. The imagery is less Bon Appetit, more art journal: A severed pig head is fascinating but not appetizing; food sculptures casting fairy tale-like shadows are gorgeous but inedible.

Making it a turn-on for culinary puffers and Peeping Toms alike.

Available at St. Mark’s Bookshop, 31 Third Avenue, at 9th Street (212-260-7853); online at youworkforthem.com.