A friend of ours calls us "Foodies." Both Matt and I have laughed that off. What is a foodie anyway? Usually some one with either some food expertise or at least a food snob comes to mind for me. I can't say I'm either. My love of fast food burgers takes me out of the snob category, I think. But really my friend was talking about how Matt and I can be very passionate about food, and our desire to make food from scratch, and to, where we purchase packaged/premade foods, to have them as unmodified as we can afford. Meaning we avoid things like high fructose corn syrup.
The funny thing is, we grate our cheese (for example) ourselves rather than buy shredded because it is cheaper by far to do it. Cheese isn't cheap. We like to save our pennies where we can, but I'm happy that the side benefit is that it tastes better. It hasn't been coated in corn starch to keep it from sticking which means a more robust flavor when you grate it yourself.
We make food like spaghetti sauce or beans or any number of prepared foods that can be bought from scratch or from basics (like canned tomato sauce) because it saves money. Most foods I can make in a half hour or under. If not, it's something saved for special occasions. Flour tortillas from scratch are so much tastier!
But it's a little more than being cheap. We've never had a lot of money. But we have been able to travel a bit and live in different places. We discovered most places have some dish or cuisine that they are especially proud of. Food is such a simple pleasure. When you sit down to savor food, and not just eat because you need to for survival, the food becomes a whole experience. And an experience that can be quite affordable. Food can tell you so much about a place. Understanding what people eat and the way people eat can tell you a lot about a culture. And eating hits up all the senses. Really, I don't understand how this makes me a foodie, and why others would not view food this way. It's sad to me to eat just to eat.
The only trouble I have is that I keep falling in love with food that I can't get where I am now. I miss so many foods...
2 comments:
When you said "fast food burgers" I immediately thought of how you are closer to a Rally's than me. Also, in my scientific study of food class we have been taking about how when the Dietary Guideline come out sometime this year (it is supposed to be updated in 2010, but they're still working on it) there will be a new addition: focusing on how food and cooking should be a pleasurable experience. I think this is pretty cool, I've always loved eating and cooking but there are a lot of people who just eat to live.
I'll eat my next Rally's burger in honor of you, Emma. :) We actually have Rally's right here in town. Mmm.
That is cool that they are focusing on the pleasure of eating and cooking. I have trouble remembering when I come back from someplace to talk about things other than the food. :)
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