From foraging to clean eating: how our passion for food has grown

For Observer Food Monthly’s 200th issue, Rachel Cooke examines the food trends that have come and gone over the last 17 years – and what lies ahead

The first Observer Food Monthly came out in April 2001. On its cover was an effortfully moody-looking Marco Pierre White, smoking a fag and wearing a black trilby; inside were the chefs Nobuyuki Matsuhisa (“Nobu - the world’s sexiest restaurant”) and Ruth Rogers (“One of the most exciting moments of the year is the arrival of the first porcini”), and the actor Christopher Walken (“My brothers and I worked in our father’s bakery: I was the guy who put the jelly in the doughnuts”). Introducing the magazine to readers, Nigel Slater noted that the public’s interest in food-related matters had never been greater. “I am sure you will agree the timing is perfect,” he wrote, promising OFM writers would both debate the important issues of the day and sing the sensual praises of cooking.