I took a hobby Gourmet cooking class many many years ago. One of the
women in the class mentioned that her husbands favourite 'gourmet'
meal was to heat up a can of beans and top it with a fried egg. I for
one don't like the dish.
But what does gourmet mean to you?
Here's a definition I found on the internet: 'A connoisseur of fine
food and drink.' Well that cancels out the bean/fried egg eater I
presume. It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine. I've never
spent in my life over $20.00 on a liter of wine. And spending around
$20 is very rare. And that's only if some people come over who need
to see an up scale label.(for them I guess a $20 wine is up scale.)
The closest I've come to restaurant bliss is to eat a dry aged T-Bone
grilled over charcoal. But then, I can do the same thing at home.
I am also very happy with getting a good chunk of very old cheddar,
some different salamis, some good French bread with butter.
The way I make pig tails just freaks me out. I finish them over lump
charcoal after braising them in fruit juice.
I love stews, beef, chicken and pork. Chili doesn't rank high on my
list, but I like it. Especially served over little dumplings.
I'm not into lamb. The only way I like lamb is to marinate a lamb
chop in white wine, rosemary, and seasonings. Then slap the chop on a
very hot grill, and cook it rare.
So those to me are gourmet foods. I'd probably change my mind if I
would eat at a Michelin starred restaurant, but I don't see that as
happening picture any time soon. Maybe if I could figure out those
damn horses...

On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:09:32 -0700 (PDT), A Moose in Love
> wrote:

> It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
> gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine.

You're a gourmand, as are most (but not all) of us who post here.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

>Here's a definition I found on the internet: 'A connoisseur of fine
>food and drink.'

Is it just me, or does anybody else think it's funny to define
"goumet" with "connoisseur"?

-Zz

On 08/28/11 07:09, A Moose in Love wrote:
> Here's a definition I found on the internet: 'A connoisseur of fine
> food and drink.' Well that cancels out the bean/fried egg eater I
> presume. It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
> gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine.


It depends how we perceive the "fine" food and drink from the
definition. I mean, what is fine ? It's not the same for everybody.
There are descriptions of a gourmet/gourmand which paint them as
priggish people who chose only more expensive cuts or more expensive
food, which gourmands are not.

For example, I've heard that a real gourmand would never allow
himself to eat prairies' oysters, brains, meat aspic, tongue, or
sweetbreads.
But such thoughts are expressed by pretentious, fastidious people who
are imagining they are gourmands, but they are not, they are just
fastidious and priggish.

Gourmands are not fastidious people, they would eat all food, no
matter what kind of the meat of what plant and what price, as long as
the food is _masterfully_ prepared to be tasty and savory.

But to me, it also means food preferably prepared by scratch, and
masterfully prepared, not just opening a can of this, add a can of
that, than mix with a can of something else...


> I've never
> spent in my life over $20.00 on a liter of wine. And spending around
> $20 is very rare. And that's only if some people come over who need
> to see an up scale label.(for them I guess a $20 wine is up scale.)


As in many other things, when it comes to wines price is often not
an indicator of taste and quality. They are tasty wines in that price
range, and much more expensive who may be a batch from a bad year and
in liquor stores you pay the brand/reputation of the vinery.

for example, if you decide to travel along coasts of Greece, Croatia,
Italy, do not forget to buy a small canister of wine from local
villagers who make wines themselves from their own vineyards. You
bring a 2gl canister, they pour their wine in it. You'll taste the
best wines you ever tasted in your life.

I am not telling that villagers in other countries don't have the
same good wine, but these are the countries I toured. Villagers sell
their wines for peanuts. While there, in local stores in the town you
can get the same bottled wine which stands next to a bottle of Barron
Rothschild which costs five times as much, and judging by the palates
experience you can't tell why the heck such unjustified price difference.

For your choice of wine of $20 or less... do you enjoy it ? And do
you return to grab the same bottle in liquor stores because you enjoy
that particular wine ? I always return to my favorite Cotes du Rhone,
one of the inexpensive bottles among all Cotes du Rhones on the
shelf. I do not just like it, I truly enjoy it with my meals. As
someone already said, you are a gourmand. Do not pay attention to
pretentious thoughts/definitions.

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 02:04:01 -0700, Feranija wrote:

> On 08/28/11 07:09, A Moose in Love wrote:
>> Here's a definition I found on the internet: 'A connoisseur of fine
>> food and drink.' Well that cancels out the bean/fried egg eater I
>> presume. It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
>> gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine.
>
> It depends how we perceive the "fine" food and drink from the
> definition. I mean, what is fine ? It's not the same for everybody.
> There are descriptions of a gourmet/gourmand which paint them as
> priggish people who chose only more expensive cuts or more expensive
> food, which gourmands are not.
>
> For example, I've heard that a real gourmand would never allow
> himself to eat prairies' oysters, brains, meat aspic, tongue, or
> sweetbreads.
> But such thoughts are expressed by pretentious, fastidious people who
> are imagining they are gourmands, but they are not, they are just
> fastidious and priggish.

i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.

American Heritage Dictionary: gour·met

n.

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
> wrote:

> i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.

A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

In article >,
sf > wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
> > wrote:
>
> > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
>
> A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.

I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:02:04 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:

> In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
> > > wrote:
> >
> > > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
> >
> > A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.
>
> I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.

Dictionaries have more than one meaning and I prefer the other.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

blake murphy wrote:
>
> American Heritage Dictionary: gour·met
>
> n.
> A connoisseur of fine food and drink.
>
> USAGE NOTE A gourmet is a person with discriminating taste in food and
> wine, as is a gourmand. Because gourmand can also mean "one who enjoys food
> in great quantities" or even "a gluttonous eater," care should be taken to
> make clear its intended sense.
>
> <http://www.answers.com/topic/gourmet?initiator=CANS>

Interesting. The way I learned it both a gourmet and gourmand like
widely varied foods and appreciate points that most would miss. The
difference I learned was a gourmet included cooking interesting food
while a gourmand did not. Almost a matter of supplier and customer.

This difference in meanings when proof when the ancient and long defunct
newsgroup alt.gourmand started.

On Aug 28, 9:47*am, sf > wrote:
> On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:09:32 -0700 (PDT), A Moose in Love
>
> > wrote:
> > It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
> > gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine.
>
> You're a gourmand, as are most (but not all) of us who post here.

Wrong. Most of the posters here are morbidly obese retards that eat
boxed macaroni and cheese from Cool-Whip bowls while Keyboard Kooking
on Usenet.

On Aug 29, 11:59*am, projectile vomit chick
> wrote:
> On Aug 28, 9:47*am, sf > wrote:
>
> > On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:09:32 -0700 (PDT), A Moose in Love
>
> > > wrote:
> > > It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
> > > gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine.
>
> > You're a gourmand, as are most (but not all) of us who post here.
>
> Wrong. *Most of the posters here are morbidly obese retards that eat
> boxed macaroni and cheese from Cool-Whip bowls while Keyboard Kooking
> on Usenet.

Don't forget the dogs at 7-11.

On 8/29/2011 1:59 PM, projectile vomit chick wrote:
> Wrong. Most of the posters here are morbidly obese retards that eat
> boxed macaroni and cheese from Cool-Whip bowls while Keyboard Kooking
> on Usenet.


You looking at a monitor or a mirror?


George L

In article >,
sf > wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:02:04 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:
>
> > In article >,
> > sf > wrote:
> >
> > > On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
> > > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
> > >
> > > A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.
> >
> > I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.
>
> Dictionaries have more than one meaning and I prefer the other.

Do you have a dictionary that supports that? This is the entirety of
what my dictionary has:

gourmand

noun

a person who enjoys eating and often eats too much.
? a connoisseur of good food. See usage below.

DERIVATIVES
gourmandism |?go?rm?n?diz?m| noun
ORIGIN late Middle English : from Old French, of unknown origin.

USAGE The words gourmand and gourmet overlap in meaning but are not
identical. Both mean 'a connoisseur of good food,' but gourmand more
usually means 'a person who enjoys eating and often overeats.'



Thesaurus

gourmand
noun
his brother is a shameless gourmand who is eating us out of house and
home glutton, overeater, big eater, gobbler, gorger; informal pig,
greedy pig, guzzler.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:19:18 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:

> In article >,
> sf > wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:02:04 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:
> >
> > > In article >,
> > > sf > wrote:
> > >
> > > > On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
> > > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
> > > >
> > > > A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.
> > >
> > > I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.
> >
> > Dictionaries have more than one meaning and I prefer the other.
>
> Do you have a dictionary that supports that?

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gourmand

noun
2: A person who appreciates good food.

adjective
2: (more recently) Having a love for good food, demanding of food
quality.


http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gourmand

2: one who is heartily interested in good food and drink


It appears we are on opposite sides of the same argument
http://www.suite101.com/content/the-...dispute-a58654

IMO, if you're trying to call someone a glutton - call them a glutton,
it's an easy enough word for anyone to understand. OTOH, gourmand is
a good way to say that a person enjoys good, high quality food (pinky
down type) but they're not a food snob (pinky up, monocle, sniffing
like they just smelled something bad)) to the point of referring to
themselves as a gourmet or even better - an "epicure".

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:30:42 -0700, sf wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:02:04 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> sf > wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
>>> > wrote:
>>>
>>> > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
>>>
>>> A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.
>>
>> I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.
>
> Dictionaries have more than one meaning and I prefer the other.

i'm just saying if you want to be clear, you might want to use 'gourmet.'

your pal,
blake

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:55:25 -0700, sf wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 14:19:18 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:
>
>> In article >,
>> sf > wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:02:04 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:
>>>
>>> > In article >,
>>> > sf > wrote:
>>> >
>>> > > On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
>>> > > > wrote:
>>> > >
>>> > > > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
>>> > >
>>> > > A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.
>>> >
>>> > I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.
>>>
>>> Dictionaries have more than one meaning and I prefer the other.
>>
>> Do you have a dictionary that supports that?
>
> http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/gourmand
>
> noun
> 2: A person who appreciates good food.
>
> adjective
> 2: (more recently) Having a love for good food, demanding of food
> quality.
>
> http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gourmand
>
> 2: one who is heartily interested in good food and drink
>
> It appears we are on opposite sides of the same argument
> http://www.suite101.com/content/the-...dispute-a58654
>
> IMO, if you're trying to call someone a glutton - call them a glutton,
> it's an easy enough word for anyone to understand.

just as i am saying if you're trying to call someone a gourmet, call them a
gourmet.

your pal,
blake

On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:59:42 -0700 (PDT), projectile vomit chick wrote:

> On Aug 28, 9:47*am, sf > wrote:
>> On Sun, 28 Aug 2011 07:09:32 -0700 (PDT), A Moose in Love
>>
>> > wrote:
>>> It also puts me at a fairly far distance from being a
>>> gourmet, as I tend to like simple food, and simple wine.
>>
>> You're a gourmand, as are most (but not all) of us who post here.
>
> Wrong. Most of the posters here are morbidly obese retards that eat
> boxed macaroni and cheese from Cool-Whip bowls while Keyboard Kooking
> on Usenet.

yep, she's a sheldon sock.

blake

On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:26:26 -0400, blake murphy
> wrote:

> just as i am saying if you're trying to call someone a gourmet, call them a
> gourmet.

A gourmet is more hoity toity than a gourmand. A gourmet is
discerning about paté and truffles, a gourmand is discerning about
hamburgers and fries.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

On Tue, 30 Aug 2011 11:23:49 -0400, blake murphy
> wrote:

> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:30:42 -0700, sf wrote:
>
> > On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 11:02:04 -0700, Dan Abel > wrote:
> >
> >> In article >,
> >> sf > wrote:
> >>
> >>> On Mon, 29 Aug 2011 10:30:01 -0400, blake murphy
> >>> > wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > i think you have it backwards. to me, a 'gourmand' is a glutton.
> >>>
> >>> A gourmand enjoys food. Gluttony is up to the individual.
> >>
> >> I have a dictionary. It agrees with Blake.
> >
> > Dictionaries have more than one meaning and I prefer the other.
>
> i'm just saying if you want to be clear, you might want to use 'gourmet.'
>
A gourmand is more down to earth, blue collar so to speak.

--
I take life with a grain of salt, a slice of lemon and a shot of tequila

>
> I once got a Chinese fortune cookie
> I got in my youth. "Most people eat
> to live, other people live to
> eat," (the gourmand).


I heard that was Italians.