In our fourth edition of ‘Meet the Foodie’, we interview Lucy Blackwell, Weekly Cookery Editor across Bella, That’s Life and Take a Break magazines (@blackwell_lucy). If you’re not familiar with the blog, Meet the Foodie is a monthly Q&A with food journalists and bloggers – a nod to the fact our Northern office specialises in food and drink PR.
- First with Eat In magazine editor Sheena Horton here
- Second with Veggie Magazine’s editor Fae Gilfillan here and
- Thirdly with Karen Barnes, Editor of Delicious here)
The only person in the cookery team of three busy titles, Lucy’s typical day can be spent doing anything from planning features with editors, writing recipes and the ‘arduous’ task of taste-testing new products.
In this edition of Meet the Foodie, Lucy tells us how her family’s background paved the way for a food-based career (and why if she wasn’t doing this, Disney film voiceovers would be the dream job), the reason Indian Room in Balham hits the top spot for London restaurants and the first 3 people she would invite to her dinner party. Read on….we hope you enjoy!
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1. How did you get into your role at Bella/That’s Life/Take a Break
After university, I worked as a marketing copywriter for a while before I left to go travelling. When I got back, I moved to London where I temped to pay my rent while I did various bits of work experience and freelance – at magazines, as a food stylist’s assistant, recipe testing for cookbooks etc. After nearly a year, I landed my first fulltime job as editorial assistant of new regional food glossy, Grub, but unfortunately it folded six months later. I then started freelancing here at H Bauer, where I had previously done some work experience on eat in. Shortly afterwards, my current job came up so I applied and was lucky enough to get it.
2. Did you always know you wanted to work in a food-based role? What would you be doing if you weren’t doing this?
Absolutely. I’m from a family that loves cooking (and eating) so it was a big part of my life growing up. My Mum is a “pescatarian” – she eats fish but not meat – so we made two versions of every meal and I never stuck to just one. At 16, I got a job as a cook in a local tearoom and spent my breaks leafing through food mags, thinking how wonderful it would be to work on one. My brother is a chef and I knew that wasn’t the lifestyle for me, but food writing seemed the ideal way to put my English Lit degree and love of food to good use.
If I weren’t doing this, my dream job would be starring in musicals in the West End or doing the voiceovers in Disney films, but I’m a realist so the singing and dancing takes place in my kitchen instead!
3. Please sum up your magazines in one sentence
Bella’s cookery section follows the latest trends, with extracts from recently published cookbooks and health-conscious product page “eat smart”. In Take a Break and That’s Life, the cookery pages are all about inspirational food that’s still family-friendly, good value for money and suited to a busy lifestyle.
4. Can you give us a bit of an insight into your ‘typical’ working day?
Being the only person on the cookery team for Bella, That’s Life, Take a Break and the monthly mag Take a Break Specials keeps me pretty busy. On any given day, I can be doing anything from planning features with the editors, researching images and writing recipes, to calling in samples, taste-testing new products and checking proofs before we go to print. If recipes need testing, I do that at home in the evenings and there are also lots of press events to squeeze in and amongst it all.
5. What do you most like hearing from PRs about?
New products and cookbooks, and as soon as possible. Often people don’t realise how far ahead we have to work. My mags are weeklies but I usually plan the pages at least two months in advance and my deadlines are about six weeks in advance.
6. What is the most exciting thing about your job – and the most uninteresting?
My favourite time of year has to be Christmas in July, when supermarkets give us journalists a preview of what’s in store for the coming festive period. They turn the venues into winter wonderlands and there are so many delicious things to taste.
The least interesting part of the job is wading through the daily barrage of emails and fending off follow-up calls made just minutes after an email has been sent.
7. What would you say the perks of the job are?
All the exciting samples I get to try and the fun events I’m lucky enough to be invited to. There’s also nothing like an email from a reader telling me they’ve enjoyed a certain recipe.
8. What are your favourite hobbies outside of work?
Since I’m a Yorkshire girl born and bred, nothing relaxes me like escaping to the countryside for some hiking. I find being amongst trees, hills and fields wonderfully calming. When I’m not doing that, I’m reading – mostly historical fiction and crime thrillers – and fitting in as many trips to the theatre as possible.
9. What’s your favourite restaurant?
I’m always up for trying new places and that’s something you’re never short of in London. But top of my list has to be Indian Room in Balham. It’s everything a restaurant should be – the food is delicious, the service is spot on and it has a lovely, relaxing atmosphere. A weekend visit from my parents isn’t complete without a trip there; the paneer tikka and lamb patia is the best I’ve ever eaten.
10. You’re throwing a dinner party and anyone dead or alive can attend – who are the first 3 people on your guest list? And what 3 courses would you cook?
Other than my lovely husband and two of my closest friends you mean? In that case, probably comedian Jon Richardson, the legendary Tina Turner and my favourite author Nancy Turner.
As for the menu, I’m a big fan of preparing ahead to maximise time with my guests. To start, I’d serve an enormous seafood platter of crab, oysters, langoustines, cockles, clams and mussels with homemade mayonnaise, shallot vinegar, fresh lemon and crusty bread. The main course would be beef bourguignon, potato dauphinoise and cavelo nero. I don’t have much of a sweet tooth so I’d probably skip the dessert and just bring out a cheeseboard for us to nibble on as we chat our way into the early hours…
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