TIME Magazine

The Google Gourmet

Posted October 24, 2003 Like many foodies with Web access, Kimberly Quan routinely hits allrecipes.com to find something new to stew, bake or sauté. She frequents the online forums at Wine Spectator "for the rich cultural perspective," often landing in Let's talk Chateauneuf du Pape, one of a handful of ongoing Wine Conversations on the site that attracts what Quan describes as a "quality demographic." (She's admittedly biased — Quan works for Infopop, the technology company that runs Wine Spectator's boards — but she was a regular even before she was hired and Infopop got the account.)

When Quan's regular online haunts fail to inspire, Quan will Google for guidance on how to make a particular ethnic dish truly authentic or which side dishes will wow the guests at her next dinner party. The search engine can really save surfing time, she says, by bringing up direct links to posts on public message boards that are relevant to the culinary matter at hand — no need to sift through pages of unnecessary foodie chatter.

It was Google that helped Quan research cooking schools in Tuscany and Provence when she was planning her last European trip. And when she moved to Seattle a couple of years ago, and knew no one, it was through Google that she discovered Culinary Communion, a local cooking school where she would ultimately meet her best pals while sharpening her knife skills.

Nearly 23 million people — roughly 16 percent of the Net-surfing public — visit food and cooking websites every month, according to ComScore Media Metrix. And why wouldn't they? The Internet is the perfect medium for such communal pursuits as cooking and eating, says Dawn Brozek, an e-commerce analyst who covers the food industry for NetRatings.

User-friendly features such as the ability to rate and review individual recipes — as well as post helpful hints like "double the cheese" or "cut back on the cumin" — have become standard for many of the best food sites, Brozek notes. "Cooking is an art, not a science," she says, "so those of us who like to cook also like to learn from other people's experiences."

Glossy cooking magazines and cable TV shows have effectively used the Web as a way to extend their brands and expand their audience, Brozek adds, while many e-commerce sites have added recipes and cooking tips to help sell more cookware.

Whether you're looking for lessons in kitchen basics, new twists on a tired dish or to otherwise broaden your culinary repertoire, there's no shortage of online resources. Here we list some sites you might want to bookmark — including some links for when you feel like eating out. In a pinch, of course, you can always use Google.