Mags: Food for fantasy

It's official: food is the new erogenous zone in women's magazines, and male chefs are taking the place of male celebrities as the object of female desire. Thanks to MasterChef, Matt Preston is the new (cuddlier) George Clooney; Matt Moran the new Brad Pitt.

Perhaps it has something to do with the appeal of a man who can wield a whisk in the kitchen and clean up after himself too? Pure domesticated fantasy!

Capitalising on this food lust is Woman's Day, who has recruited Bill Granger (the Jamie Oliver of Australia), the chef "renowned for his light and fluffy eggs and other deliciously simple recipes", to be part of its food team, producing two food pages each issue.

"We’re thrilled to have Bill joining food director Jennene Plummer and the rest of our food team. Not only is he one of Australia’s best-known celebrity chefs, he also has a young family, so he understands the need to prepare no fuss, wholesome food that suits our readers’ busy lifestyles. Bill will also add a buzz to our food pages that we know will resonate with our celebrity-focused readers,” says Alana House, editorial director for Woman’s Day.

"My major focus in re-joining Woman’s Day was to boost the food and lifestyle pages, which are a much-loved part of our weekly offering. We know that family meals are quite literally planned around what we dish up in our Everyday Food section and, with more than 2 million readers, that gives us considerable influence over what Australia’s are eating each week."

Granger, of course, agrees: "I have always been passionate about making good food available to everyone and joining Woman’s Day means that I can share the food that I am serving my family with an enormous number of Australians each and every week. The idea of inspiring so many Australians so regularly to get into their kitchens and cook delicious and nutritious food really excites me. My aim is always to make my recipes achievable for most, keeping busy working lives and families in mind, and this I see to be a perfect fit with Woman’s Day and its readers.”

A guy who empathises with the plight of the working mother? What could be sexier than that?!

Yours truly,
Girl With a Satchel