Synonym #1
205 mm x 270 mm, 94 pages (spiral-bound)
Los Angeles, US
First published 2024
Editor-in-chief: Caroline Hwang
Editor: Lisa Butterworth
Design director: Ely Kim
Spiral-bound Synonym offers a highly visual, passionate look at cross-cultural flavours and immigrant food stories, aiming to shed light on ‘how trade, politics, colonialism, and capitalism have changed food cultures around the world.’
Featuring a mix of recipes, interviews and plenty of vivid, photogenic food, this debut issue is themed ‘Pantry’, in a sense a celebration of so-called 'trashy' ingredients—think Spam, Wonder Bread, hot dogs or packaged condiments—often incorporated into immigrant households out of financial necessity or a desire for cultural assimilation. The pieces feel personal and accessible, ranging from pantry/freezer-friendly recipes for dips, noodles and frozen treats to essays on the El Salvador Corridor market in L.A. and La Choy, a 100-year old manufacturer of prepackaged American Chinese foods.