The fifth issue of Madelaine, which describes itself as "a cybermagazine of poetry, prose, pictures… and recipes", offers a tempting menu of short stories, features, essays and poems, all themed around food - including one unexpectedly saucy item, "Breakfast", which has nothing at all to do with coffee and toast. Other treats include a symbological analysis of the food on display in a 17th century painting, an illustrated restaurant reviews competition, a short story on the transformative power of garlic, and the complete menu for an Italian dinner party. Here and there on the fiction pieces, tiny Le Creuset icons denote links to recipes of the dishes mentioned in the text - a neat touch.
Just one quibble: in places, the text flashes jarringly in different colours when you run your mouse over it. Other than that, though, this is an easily navigable, charmingly designed site that scores highly on intriguing, original and pleasingly focused content. Plus, the world premier of Paella: The Movie. Food and literature - what's not to like?
