Who Is The True Foodie?

Joshua Longenecker

Professor Tsao

English 1101

24 October 2009

Who Is The True Foodie?

          Food: “Any nourishing substance that is eaten, drunk, or otherwise taken into the body to sustain life, provide energy, [and] promote growth” (food). This scientific definition states the basic qualities of the subject we spend so much of our life on during our daily rituals of eating. However, does the populace of the world merely eat because it sustains their bodies through the day? Possibly this might have been the case before the industrialization of the world led to the profuse amount of choices in what to eat, but this is certainly not the case today. People can enjoy what they eat more now than ever. In fact, there are people who coined the extreme food enjoyer by the name foodie: “A person who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a gourmet” (foodie). This special class of people doesn’t just eat out of necessity; they eat as a hobby—tasting good food is what they do to relax, and they taste well, having trained their taste buds through experimentation with various foods to discern a wide range of flavors. Since they have come to appreciate all the nuances that food can bring, they have a higher standard for the quality of their food.
          If these “foodies” demand only the best in the realms of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, don’t they have to be wealthy? When one thinks of quality food, the first image that comes to mind isn’t the local McDonalds, but rather the exact opposite in the food chain—the high-end restaurant. However, we would be pretentious to limit foodies to merely the wealthy. Yes, that faction of foodies certainly exists, as evidenced by high-class food critics such Ruth Reichl, but there is a much larger percentage of individuals who consider themselves “foodies” yet do not have that same socioeconomic status. Instead of fulfilling their desires by going to the best restaurants, they earn their foodie status in their own kitchens—trying out new recipes and then going off the beaten path adding their own modifications until a normal meal becomes something extraordinary and delicious. While there are certainly foodies in the upper echelon of society, one does not have to have wealth in order to be a gourmet. However, foodie culture is under attack by definition—less and less people realize what good food truly is, and to properly understand the result of socioeconomics on foodies, one must investigate how the definition of a “foodie” has changed.
          First of all, consider people such as in books such as Bittersweet by Matt McAllester. In this true story, Matt deals with the loss of his foodie mother—one of many who grew up in the post-World War II era learning the art of cooking from the Elizabeth Davids and Julia Childs of the era. These foodie mothers of that age went to the television and learned how to become artisans of food. Even if they had no prior experience, people like Matt McAllester’s mother had the quality teachers such as Julia Child and Elizabeth David as well as the passion necessary to become experts in not merely presenting basic food for their families, but rather create such quality menus that all of those around them would be impacted by the experience and learn to appreciate food as well. Julia Child and Elizabeth David were two “foodie” propagators—those who not only directly affected their viewers and readers, but also created a ripple effect through culture, helping a world to enjoy a tasteful dish.
          However, food culture has dramatically changed since the era of Julia Child. No longer are food producers merely concerned with simply growing enough of the basic ingredients of which the cultures food is made of. Consumerism has swept western culture and now the cry is simplicity and convenience. The gravity of this situation is evidenced by Harry Balzer, a food researcher quoted in Michael Pollan’s article Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch. Balzer states that “people call things ‘cooking’ today that would roll their grandmother in her grave – heating up a can of soup or microwaving a frozen pizza” (qtd. in Pollan) – a far slide from even Julia Child’s day, where cooking was actually regarded as creating the soup out of vegetables or making the dough for the pizza from scratch. The result of this shows up in our grocery aisles, where we find cake mixes for birthday parties and brownie mixes where you just add one or two simple ingredients and bake. Convenience has become king. If one looks at what has replaced Julia Child on television, it is clear to see that food preparation is no more about personal enjoyment in the kitchen, but merely exists provide entertainment. Shows like Iron Chef and Hell’s Kitchen turn creating good food into a competition instead of a personally enjoyable hobby, and the few actual cooking shows have changed their purpose to quickly and easily satisfying the demands of the family, as in Rachel Ray’s Gather Round. The majority of western culture would rather watch someone else make food than go into the kitchen, and one of the main ingredients necessary for the existence of foodies has dwindled—the passion for food. Has the working and middle class foodie culture ceased to exist with the departure of Julia Child? No, but culture is heading in this very direction.
          Hope still exists, though. Take, for instance, Alton Brown. While he still is heavy on entertainment and somewhat unsophisticated in how he approaches food, there is still the occasional cry to his viewers—where has quality food gone? In his episode Coconut Cake Revival, he raises an outcry to ask where the true coconut cake has gone after discovering that his favorite haunt traded the real cake for a fake, boxed mess. In order to further educate his viewers, he goes through the entire process of creating a coconut cake all the way from real coconuts to the delicious end result, allowing anyone with access to his show the ability to take simple ingredients, and with some time, have the chance to truly experience coconut cake.
         While consumerism has taken over much of the culture, there are still those working and middle class foodies who, due to their refined taste, refuse to settle for the packaged and processed food. Instead of their taste hurting their bank account, they benefit from the dilemma, as creating food from scratch is, on average, much less costly than dining out. Yes, less wealthy foodies might not have access to all the obscure foods and spices that exist in the upper-class restaurant’s entrées somewhat limiting the range of tastes available, but even that wall is being torn down as western culture becomes more international and foreigners open stores selling ingredients necessary for their native cuisines. More and more, foodies have a chance to flourish even more as the gap of available ingredients between exotic restaurants and the foodie cook closes.
          However, danger still remains—in order for the appreciation of true, wholesome food to continue on through the next generation, foodies must propagate. While consumerism has mostly taken over the television, there are still ways to reach the population. Just like Matt McAllester’s foodie mother spread the love of food to her children and friends by introducing them to cooking and a wide variety of cuisine, so must the current generation of foodies share their talent with those around them—whether by having people over for dinner or through the simple act of bringing a side of quality food to events, people will be affected and have their eyes opened. No one complains about eating good food, and much less when the dish is extraordinary!
          However, there is one catch to the ability of someone to become a foodie—time. While the high-class foodies have the resources necessary to merely drive to a reputable restaurant and be served quality food, the foodie cook must not only eat, but also purchase the required ingredients, experiment with various ingredients, and actually make the meal, the required time is much greater. Like any skill, proficiency takes time and some occasional patience is needed when one has to cook a meal instead of instantly being able to heat up processed food in the microwave. However, the return is much more satisfying—each bite of food is a testament to hard work paying off; every morsel is savored because of the time spent creating it. The result of a foodie cook’s labor is worth it, but it does come at a cost.
          The question must be answered—who really is the true foodie—the upper-class foodie, or the foodie cook? The two worlds are so incredibly foreign that they are at times hard to reconcile. Yes, the upper-class foodie may have slightly more food variety, but as far as intimately knowing the characteristics of food, the foodie cook must be given the praise. Whatever the case—in the end, it is the foodie cook that is offering service to the foodie consumer. Without the foodie cook, the upper-class foodie ceases to exist.

Works Cited

"food." Dictionary.com Unabridged. Random House, Inc. 25 Oct. 2009.
"foodie." The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. 25 Oct. 2009.
Pollan, Michael. “Out of the Kitchen, Onto the Couch.” New York Times. n. pag. Web. 20 July 2008.