….for one of those really important things other than wine that I was talking about the other day. Namely, children being our future and all that.

Open a bottle, pop some corn, & make yourself a more aware human being by watching this documentary, The First Year, directed by Davis Guggenheim. All you need is Flash on your computer and 35 minutes. You have 35 minutes, don’t you? I mean, what are you doing right now?

TEACHnow.org

I, too, never really thought about it (teaching), until I watched this. Thanks to my broham over at ridertech.com for dropping this on me.

And now back to our snarking…

Schott’s Food & Drink Miscellany by Ben Schott is an indescribable wonderland of useless, priceless, and implausible information about the things we swallow and the rituals behind it all. Yesterday, I used both “gourmet” and “gourmand” in a sentence. I got tons of email saying the terms were interchangeable. Actually, no… and yes. But I love the accepted distinction between these two terms.

In the above book, you’ll find a chart, illustrating the hierarchy of gastronomy. How French is that? I consulted with a Frenchie chef friend of mine to nail down the particular shades of grey between these words.
Which one are you?

Gastronome, the pro or the nerd

I think the cutsie crowd has modified this into the “Gastronaut.” A person with much knowledge of food and wine, one who makes the pursuit of the following an important part of their life.

Gourmet, hobbyist, know-it-all

A person that eats and drinks with care and taste and that watches out for the quality of that which is ate or imbibed.

Friand, epicure

A person with refined taste, especially in food and wine, but more concerned with the refinement of that taste. Not to be confused with Epicurean philosophy, which is the pursuit of pleasure

Gourmand, cultured voracity

Likes to eat good things, has an appetite for deliciousness. The gourmand is not always a fine connoisseur but can have a special taste for certain food

Goulu, the regular old glutton

Is said of a person that eats a lot and very quickly, while swallowing the foods without really savoring

Goinfre, Greedy-guts or oinker

The more “street,” derogatory version of glutton

It’s hard not to roll your eyes at anyone who would describe themselves as a “gourmet” or an “epicure,” same with “oenophile.” To me it’s the culinary equivalent of “don’t you know who I am?” or saying you’re an opera “afficionado.” Oh brother and good grief to the 3rd power.

Incidentally, I had to widdle out a tremendous amount of judgmental description from my friend. (He, like me, had a particular affection for the word “gourmand.”) He also threw in five or six more words I’d never heard. But of course the French have 15 words for “liker of food.” It’s like the eskimos having 100 words for “snow.”

I say “potato.” You say “spud.” And he says “fingerling.”
But pomme de terre still sounds cooler.