on cooking

[drusni]

From Michael Ruhlman:

"I must here make a distinction that surely will be debated. Since we are unlikely ever to get rid of the unfortunate term “foodie,” I would be grateful if we could separate people who like to cook from foodies. I have nothing against foodies, I hope it's clear. But we should recognize that they are a distinct species, and

Comments

[a2gemma]

So there's finally a name for what I am: Human!

:-)

[lintra]

Me too! Woot!

[shekkara]

J hates the term "foodie". I don't use it for myself, though I know others would apply it to me. I guess I think of foodies as being totally consumed by the topic, and even though I do write a food blog and get paid for restaurant reviews I don't think I am compared to the people I think of being "foodies".

[tlatoani]

Yeah. I can't stand that word. I think of myself as a "food geek" -- I'm geeky about food like I am about other things I like, meaning I like learning about it and experiencing it, but contrary to Ruhlman's characterization I don't whack off to the Food Network.

[shekkara]

And in a sense it's semantics. I can't pin it down, but it's like when we want to be pejorative* about someone's interest in food - whether it's cooking or eating out- they're a "foodie", but if we want to put a positive spin then, then they're a "cook" a "geek" or a "food lover".

A lot of people cook. Some people are passionate about cooking. By some people's definitions, being passionate about cooking would make you a foodie, but Ruhlman's definition pretty much leaves cooking out of the realm of the "foodie". It's like he wants to make cooking sacred and not sullied by the term. (He does say some people are *both* cooks and foodies.)

*grant that not everyone sees "foodie" as a pejorative term, but I generally have.

[tlatoani]

Ruhlman's clearly using it pejoratively, despite his disclaimer.

[kashma]

Foodie, for me, has a somewhat negative sense, in that I feel it describes people who are more into the ephemera of the food world, that is, the "hot new thing" be that a restaurant, or a chef, or being "first to try something". Often without much critical faculty applied.

[zdashamber]

Out here in the Bay Area I haven't gotten a pejorative sense from "foodie". We're all supposed to care about whether the egg was actually raised in someone's backyard or if it was just cage-free.

[shekkara]

You aren't using the word "locavore" for that?

[zdashamber]

I view it as a sort of venn diagram mostly overlapping foodie. The foodie angle comes from caring about the taste of the egg: backyard > industrial wandering around on concrete. The locavore comes from environmentalism.