So What Makes a Foodie, Anyway?
Foodie Friday
We just passed the six month mark for our wonderful All the Single Girlfriends website and we now know that our Foodie Friday feature is a big hit with our readers.
I started to think about what, exactly, defines a ‘Foodie.’ I did a quick Google search and found: “A person who has an ardent or refined interest in food; a gourmet.” “A person having an enthusiastic interest in the preparation and consumption of good food.” “A person devoted to refined sensuous enjoyment (especially good food and drink).”
My response: “Yeah, yeah… tell me something I don’t know.”
Thus I offer my ideas of what makes a Foodie. I consider this a work in progress and open to additions from anybody who wants to share.
Rebecca’s Ten Top Tips for Knowing You are a Foodie
10. You stop to read the menus of any restaurant you pass that looks potentially interesting. You voice your opinions about their food and their prices.
9. You exclaim out loud or hear yourself moan when wandering through specialty food stores, farmers’ markets or upscale grocery stores. You have been seen to caress especially beautiful eggplants.
8. You ask waiters what “those people over there are eating?” You sometimes ask nearby diners for comments about their food. (And yes, I once accepted a taste from a stranger’s platter at a fabulous Chinese restaurant). And of course you want to taste your companion’s food and are willing to share yours.
7. You subscribe to 2 more food magazines and keep all the back issues, just in case. (I finally got rid of my Gourmet’s from the 70’s. Now I wish I hadn’t!)
6. You read food memoirs, chef stories and cook books before going to bed each night.
My newest favorite: The Flavor Thesaurus by Niki Segnit.
Here is her amazing recipe for Chicken & Bell Pepper, complete with commentary:
“Seed 6-8 red, yellow or orange peppers –NOT green, chop them into generous chunks and put in a large non-stick saucepan with 8 chicken thighs, skin-on and bone-in. Leave over medium heat. Pay attention for first ten minutes, stirring to prevent sticking. “Then all of a sudden the peppers release their juices and you can leave it alone. Put a lid on and cook over low-medium heat for 30 minutes until the pan is half full of sweet, oily, autumn-colored stock. It’s a bit of a miracle, this – you can hardly believe the rich complexity of the sauce comes from just two ingredients.” Season and serve with something to mop it up with – rice, couscous, good French bread.
I had to restrain myself from adding other things to the mix, and am glad I did. This is definitely one of those ‘Less is More’ recipes.
5. You can’t resist offering recipe ideas for the ingredients you notice in carts of people in line with you at the supermarket.
For the bag of avocadoes in the woman’s basket at Costco I reeled off my sweet and sour sauce recipe for avocadoes:
Equal amounts of 5 ingredients most people have in their pantry sugar, vinegar, ketchup, worcestershire sauce, butter. Heat and serve in avocado halves. (Enjoy my post on ah vo ca do too!)
4. Your cookbook collection takes up several shelves but you still Google recipes and ingredients to see what’s ‘out there’.
3. You discuss the next meal or previous wonderful meals while eating the present meal. You need other Foodies for this; other people start to get uncomfortable.
2. Hunger has nothing to do with eating something wonderful, even if you’ve just eaten.
1. You think about food all the time. ALL the time.
What would you add to the list? Come on, you know you have an opinion!
About the Author
Rebecca Crichton Has Written 40 Articles For Us!
I try to stay aware of one main concept: We see things through different lenses. We get caught in our own belief systems and most of us are pretty attached to being right. I am one of those inveterate Life Long Learners. I like new ideas, new experiences, new people, new challenges.
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Rebecca – the chicken recipe sounds way too easy to be that wonderful .. I’m all for easy and delish. It’s on To Try List.
My addition to the You Know You Are A Foodie If ..
~ You watch Food TV Shows and find yourself “talking” to the TV hosts about how a dish should be done!
Absolutely. And when the ‘secret’ ingredient is revealed you start thinking about what you would do and are excited that one of the chef’s is doing something related…
Rebecca – Tried your chicken and pepper recipe last night. I must admit that I too had a challenge staying true to only the 2 ingredients. The surprise was the amount of liquid that made an incredibly delicious and yes, complex flavor intense broth.
After the dish was made I added a tablespoon of chopped fresh hot pepper and about a 1/2 cup of chickpeas. OMG! This will be a do again especially when the weather turns cooler.