Latest Issue of Swallow Magazine Features the Smells of Mexico City Maria Newman - The New York Times
go to original April 9, 2013

It’s hard to stand out in the crowded field of food publications. But Swallow Magazine may do just that with its latest issue, on Mexico City, which includes a scratch-and-sniff feature that also brings you the smells of the sprawling metropolis.

Each issue of the award-winning magazine (this is only the third since it made its debut in 2009) is a dive into the food and culture of one place that can seem more like an advanced college course than a magazine. The first was on the Scandanavian food scene; the second featured points along the Trans-Siberian railway. Its size, heft and look give it the feel of a coffee table book.

This time, said James Casey, the magazine’s editor, they decided to include the ambitious olfactory project, put together by Sissel Tolaas, a fragrance expert and artist. Mr. Casey had reached out to Ms. Tolaas after he heard of a project she had done that reproduced the smells from 200 Mexico City neighborhoods.

This issue of Swallow includes 20 scratch-and-sniff stickers throughout that are imbued with the aromas of one of the city’s many colonias, or neighborhoods. (Reproducing the smells in the magazine was a complex undertaking for their printers in Singapore, and is partly the reason it took more than a year to publish.) Not all of the odors are pleasant.

Read the rest at The New York Times

We invite you to add your charity or supporting organizations' news stories and coming events to PVAngels so we can share them with the world. Do it now!