Karen Barnes

I started cooking even before I began school, inspired by my mother who was a cook ahead of her time. Those early experiences sparked a lifelong passion. I've been a journalist for 30 years, working in book publishing and women’s magazines before specialising in food. I was head of the Good Housekeeping Institute for seven years and joined delicious. magazine as editor in April 2010. I have an archive of recipes at home big enough to fill a loft and I'm never happier than when cooking, stirring and creating in the kitchen. My mission, through the pages of delicious. magazine, is to get the nation cooking.

Special subjects

– Editor – Writer – Travel writer – Restaurant reviewer – Recipe writer and editor – Product tester and writer – Teaching food-writing – Consultant

Languages spoken

French (not fluent)

Regular work

Editor, delicious. magazine

Advisory boards / Awards

– On the board of Liberty Kitchen, an initiative training prisoners to cook, giving them skills to help them find work when they leave prison – Trustee for a charity called Ukuthasa, working with poverty-stricken people in Africa (specialist areas: education, housing, HIV training and work empowerment schemes) – Winner, Magazine of the Year, Guild of Food Writers Awards 2015 and 2017 – Winner, Editor of the Year, Food & Drink, 2017 BSME Awards

Commercial interests

None

Karen Barnes

Published