About!

Pit returns for 2024 having scooped the prestigious Best Magazine Award at the Guild of Food Writers Awards 2023!

 

Over the past 6 years, Pit has evolved considerably to position itself as a bold, thought-provoking magazine that challenges the obvious narrative across a wide spectrum of food topics. Our independent status gives us free rein to choose only the pieces we think are most valuable to our readers and to have a huge amount of fun.

 

Each themed issue uncovers the most interesting and unusual food stories from around the world through people, traditions, techniques and ingredients.

 

We’ve cooked a giant goat shawarma for 30 people in a south London snowstorm, themed whole issues around sausages and MSG, and travelled the world through Sicily, Morocco, Malaysia, and Zanzibar in search of dinner.

 

We are constantly on the hunt for untold stories – the ones where we dive into the world of Turkish barbecue at chef Hasan Semay’s family home or learn about the importance of frozen hash browns to kushiyaki from Japanese food expert Tim Anderson.

 

Pit publishes a wide range of content.  From geeky science features (why does smoke make food taste so good? How does salt affect ingredients?), to fresh recipe angles and in-depth features focusing on everything from a tongue-in-cheek kebab taxonomy to the link between sex work, opium and illegal liquor production in Madya Pradesh. We are always looking to dodge the obvious angle.

 

Our stories are told by award-winning writers and our features are designed, illustrated, and photographed in bold, exciting ways. If you love food, you will love Pit. Come join us!

 


Press and Awards!

Guild of Food Writers Awards 2023 Best Magazine or Section: Winner!

 

BSME Awards 2021 Shortlist: Helen Graves, Food and Drink Editor of the Year; Holly Catford, Art Director of the Year, Consumer; Hasan Semay, Columnist of the Year

 

BSME Awards 2020: Winner! Helen Graves, Food and Drink Editor of the Year

 

‘Truly a collector’s piece’ – Nigella Lawson on Issue 09: MSG

 

‘I love this magazine’ – Tom Parker-Bowles

 

‘And a big smoky welcome to Pit Magazine, a new title dedicated to the joys of smoking and cooking over fire. The first edition, full of glossy images of hot meat-on-fire action… a joy for anyone interested in the interaction between food and fire’ – Jay Rayner, The Observer

 

‘It’s excellent! Recommended’ – Marina O’Loughlin, The Sunday Times

 

‘There is a huge amount of quality packed in here. You can see that right in the beginning with the ads, some really good high quality adverts which is a sign of a magazine getting off to a very confident, healthy start. Lovely fluorescent orange on the cover, big full bleed images, picture captions throughout. Writing throughout is really high quality, I was hungry the whole time.’ – Steve Watson, Stack Magazines

 

‘ I don’t think I’ve ever been so excited to receive an issue of a magazine. It’s 98 pages of hot sausage action. Bravo @PitmagazineUK’ – Jay Rayner

 

‘…the imagery is refreshing; gritty, messy and real, a nice step away from the meticulously styled, posed food we’re used to seeing in food magazines.’ – Salonee Gadgil, Creative Review

 

Pit’s Art Director, Holly Catford talks to Coverage by Subsail about cooking a goat shawarma in the snow subsail.com/blog/cooking-goat-in-the-mud/

 

Pit’s Editor and Art Director talk to Stack Magazines about food styling, cheese trolleys and why McDonald’s can’t jerk stackmagazines.com/food-drink/beer-barbecue-and-why-mcdonalds-cant-jerk/

 

‘Unpretentious and scrappy’
stackmagazines.com/food-drink/burn-after-reading/
– Kitty Drake, Stack Magazines

 

‘…combining history, recipes, advice and a sense of humour…’
magculture.com/pit-7/
MAGCULTURE

 

Our Art Director Holly Catford does an Instagram Live with MAGCULTURE about Pit’s redesign for Issue 07
magculture.com/holly-catford-pit-magazine-2/

 

‘The indispensable Pit Magazine’
theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2020/jun/22/chefs-top-10-barbecue-tips-cook-meat-fish-veg-lockdown-rules
– Stuart Heritage, The Guardian

Editor

Helen Graves

Helen is an award-winning author and editor. She’s been a barbecue enthusiast for as long as she can remember and is the author of the bestselling cookbook Live Fire. She also has an unhealthy obsession with sandwiches. She lives with her two cats in South East London.


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Art Director

Holly Catford

Holly’s been an editorial designer at leading design studio Esterson Associates for eight years. She’s currently the art director of History Today and Museums Journal as well as art editor of Eye, the international review of graphic design. She lives in Bristol with her two cats and until last year she couldn’t light a barbecue.


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Lead Photographer

Robert Billington

Robert is a London based photographer working mainly in the realms of food and drink. He has worked with leading advertising agencies such as Ogilvy and Mather and Mother London and regularly shoots editorial. When he’s not out taking pictures he’s in the kitchen trying to perfect dishes, current projects include the perfect confit duck, burying a pig over coals and fermented radish pickles.


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