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14 December 2020A Foodie or an Eater – Do You Pass the Foodie Test?
With the takeover of delicious food and entertainment shows on social media and TV, it’s no surprise that many of us spend more and more time in the kitchen. If you have noticed yourself collecting cookbooks, or spend half a day at the farmer’s market trying to decide which new recipe to try, you might have become more than just a home cook. If any of these ‘signs’ sound familiar, you might have earned a new characteristic – foodie.
What does ‘being a foodie’ actually mean?
Being a foodie is a really fun and easy hobby to have. However, in order to ‘earn the title’, you should first know what the term actually means. Foodies:
- Have a zealous and refined taste in food.
- Cook and eat food because of pleasure, interest and hobby rather than only out of hunger and gluttony.
- Feel a great need to discover something that they have never tasted before.
There are a few similar terms that refer to people who enjoy food. However, they are simply not suitable for the description above. A gourmet is particularly interested in fine dining and food. A gourmand, on the other hand, is a person who enjoys eating, but that usually means that they simply eat a great quantity of food.
If these things seem familiar, you might very well be a foodie!
1. You decide which restaurant or grocery store is next on the visiting agenda based on the likes and dislikes of famous chefs
What can be more enticing than a famous chef’s favourite recipe or restaurant? A real foodie will keep track of where they enjoy eating, their cooking tips and tricks and of course – kitchen utensils they can’t live without. Besides, those recipes would be perfect for your next dinner party or summer vacation, right?
4. You can recommend a good restaurant and give supported criticism about restaurants you aren’t very keen on.
Note, however, that you are not considered to be a foodie if you like and recommend a restaurant but have only ordered one thing from its menu. A true foodie will recommend several options on a restaurant’s menu.
They are well aware of the restaurant’s use of local ingredients or sustainability efforts. An ‘advanced’ foodie should be able to tell you if the items the restaurant uses are fresh, and which ingredients were stored in the freezer with days.
5. Your ‘favourite restaurants’ list counts more than 5 places!
A true foodie will have at least one favourite place to recommend depending the cuisine of every taste, whether it is Italian pasta, Japanese sushi or British fish and chips, etc. Enough said.
6. Even your media consumption revolves around food.
And we are not only referring to your Instagram account based on food. Do you find reading recipes as a means of entertainment? Have you seen every Anthony Bourdain’s or Jamie Oliver’s cookshow episode? And if you often opt for a cookbook with traditional food as a souvenir on your trips, then yes, you probably are a foodie.
5 signs you don’t fit in the description of a foodie!
1. Your travelling plans are based on sightseeing locations rather than places to eat.
Exploring new places, snapping shots of famous monuments and booking tours to museums – does this sound like your perfect trip? If these things are on your list of priorities when visiting a new country, then you are not really a foodie. Where and what to eat can be the last thing on your mind when you travel, and don’t worry, that is perfectly fine.
2. Pairing? What?
You have absolutely no idea or care about what type of wine or any other drink goes with what type of dish and when it is ‘acceptable’ to have it. As far as you are concerned, a cup of coffee sounds great regardless of the time of day, or type of meal.
3. You secretly pull out your phone and google the menu
Hey, it’s ok if you don’t understand what a strawberry coulis is. Most people don’t, and if you aren’t feeling bold and adventurous it’s always better to google any unknown words than leave that overpriced dish just because you didn’t know it had something you were maybe allergic to.
4. You live by the motto : Quantity over quality.
If you aren’t a foodie, fine dining won’t even be included in your travel budget. The cheaper the better, you say and go for street food or a random inexpensive restaurant that a local passing by just recommended. Besides, street food vendors often prepare delicious food on the spot, so it’s an experience you shouldn’t miss everywhere you go!
5. Warm food? Yummy!
Most foodies spend so much time on taking the right angle of their perfect meal. Non foodies, however, are the lucky ones to actually eat warm food. They usually don’t take photos of their meals, and even if they try, it’s pretty much impossible to find a good angle.
Want to become a foodie? Here’s what you can do.
The first step of becoming a foodie is finding your way around the kitchen. So, yes, your kitchen might need reorganising. Here are the top things you should pay attention to if you want to find yourself on the right way of becoming a foodie.
Pay a trip to the shopping centre
Make a list of the kitchen essentials you can’t live without and find time for a shopping trip. With the right tools, cooking will become a joyous experience! Besides, today there is a variety of products on the market, so you can still buy what you are missing without breaking the bank.
Start with some basic kitchen skills
Learn how to use the knife, and use the oven and dishwasher to the maximum, but take your time and learn your way around step by step. Cooking is art, and you are the artist.
Practice makes perfect
Start with an easy recipe, and then experiment by adding new ingredients every time you prepare it. Every foodie keeps a few aces in their sleeve, so knowing how to prepare a certain dish perfectly will give you bonus points at any family gathering or dinner party.
Sign up for a culinary course
From cooking the delicious pork pie to veggie dishes for the perfect meat-free dinner for your vegetarian friends – culinary courses offer an array of options and different cuisines.
Invest in a culinary trip
Travel agencies and websites offer an enormous range of culinary trips around the globe. Your job is to pack your backpack and allow yourself to experience the perks of traditional cuisine in a foreign country you’ve never been to before. What can be better than hiking through vineyards or coffee plantations, or an evening hunt for the tastiest street food?
Ready to rate the latest restaurant you went to?
Travelling to get a taste of a country’s cuisine has become one of the latest tourist trends. Local restaurants are the new ‘sightseeing’ destinations and traditional food is the newest item to be ticked off from a person’s bucket list. Foodies can’t wait to go to new restaurants and give their recommendation and personal opinion. They know everything about the chefs and their cooking style, and the quality of food they eat. So the question now is: Are you one of them?
