The Foodie Culture for Everyone

Students go to college for an education. A foodie develops its interest in food in no particular institution or area during no specific time period. The student’s education is then applied towards attaining a desirable job. The study that the foodie acquires can either be used towards a career if the individual’s interest prevails strong enough or can be used for no lucrative purpose, just personal entertainment. These students now become working citizens who receive salaries. A socioeconomic status can be relative to an individual’s income, education, and occupation. Anyone who has any desire to learn more about food and has a passion and respect for the culinary art can be considered a foodie. The individual’s income, education, and occupation do not determine the capabilities of a foodie because the factors of the socioeconomic status do not correlate exactly with the requirements of being a foodie. An individual can be a foodie regardless of their socioeconomic status due to the popularity of several television programs and the internet, their ability to cook, and the evidence found in many households where people acquire their refined taste for food from their family.

In order to be a gourmet, or a food expert, one should have a very strong grasp and a scholarly amount of knowledge about food. The internet and television sets have become vital sources for daily information for many people. Since it first became commercially available from the late 1930s, the television has become a common household device in many American homes. Currently, there are several channels on the television that air informational shows about food. The Documentary Channel have showed interesting documentaries that go behind the scenes in food factories or the lives of those who supply the food for major food companies. The Travel Channel has Anthony Bourdain, the famous executive chef, travel the globe and taste dishes of all sorts while explaining the story behind what he eats. And if Anthony Bourdain wasn’t enough, then Andrew Zimmern’s show is the one to look for. He is a food columnist, culinary expert, dining critic, and chef. His show is solely about what his title suggests: “Bizarre Foods”. His quirky personality and courageous taste buds make his show entertaining while it also delivers an abundant amount of information. There is a story to everything he eats and he gives enough thorough details for the viewers to feel as if they are actually there. Then there is The Food Network: a channel absolutely dedicated to just food. It was founded in 1993 and it has been airing shows about food and cooking ever since. For entertainment, “The Iron Chef” is a cooking competition show that puts a twist to cooking shows. Opponents are challenged to come up with a unique, appealing, and tasty multi-course meal based on a key ingredient in one hour. The show provides an educational component to the show by providing background information about the ingredients and by including the improvisation done by the chefs. “Ace of Cakes” is for moms looking for a new and cool way to decorate their kids’ birthday cakes. “Unwrapped” lets us know what our food has been through before we snatched it up in the grocery store. “Good eats” walks us through our cooking adventures starting from the local whole foods store to the dining table. And finally, the good old fashioned cooking shows exhibited by Rachael Ray’s “30 Minute Meals”, Bobby Flay’s “Boy Meets Grill”, and Jamie Oliver’s “Oliver Twist”. The resources for a foodie’s studies are not just bound to these three cable channels. The basic channels have many options as well: Oprah and her welcomed guest, Doctor Oz, informing us about the pros and cons of the food we eat, Tyra Banks revealing the ins and outs of a supermodel’s diet, and morning shows i.e.” Good Morning America”, “The View”, and “Regis and Kelly” entertaining guests such as food critics, nutritionists, and chefs to come and share what they know.

If the television is not enough, potential foodies can use the internet as a resource. The internet is a quick and easy way to attain various mediums of information. Sites such as Fancast, Hulu, and Youtube are perfect for those on a busy schedule who are unable to watch their favorite food shows on tv or for those without cable. There are blogs and forums where foodies can come together and interact to share their ideas, recipes, and food experiences. And there is an endless amount of information available on the World Wide Web for foodies to find and learn about whatever they need.

Next, being able to actually afford more high class meals is not necessary for someone to be a foodie. A foodie is somebody who enjoys good food and is an enthusiast of cooking, eating, or shopping for good food. Though the movies may tell us that escargot, caviar, and filet mignon are the fancy and sought after delicacies that one should be lucky to try, what exactly defines good food? The answer to this is absolutely relative to each and every individual. What may be a wonderful meal to someone may be appallingly atrocious to someone else. For example, durian is known and revered as the “king of the fruits” in Southeast Asia. It has a unique odor, creamy texture, and an incredibly exclusive taste. In some hotels and five star restaurants, they serve durian pancakes where they make a soft, dumpling-like shell enclosing a rich durian cream. Yet, I have seen people’s response to this powerful fruit sway both ways: either towards disgust or utter pleasure. Essentially, the amount of money spent on a meal does not determine how great it will taste and there is no concrete definition for “good food”.

Now that it is understood that being a foodie does not require eating snails on the top of the Eiffel tower or straining the wallet, another strong component of interest of foodies is the cooking. In economics, dining out is labeled as a normal good where the demand for them increases when consumer income rises. Therefore, as an individual’s income rises, the likelihood of the individual to dine out in restaurants increases. Though dining is a fun experience especially when trying new cuisines, cooking the meal makes it more intimate and personal. Dining is more for convenience and, sometimes, something to flaunt to others to show one’s high social ranking. Those who cook their meal know about every crumb in the food they eat and why every bite tastes the way it does. They collect their ingredients from the local grocery store or from their own garden. Then they enter into their arena: the kitchen. Everything they do go into account; peeling, slicing, boiling, blending, mixing, and stirring. They have studied and learned what effect each action does to the flavor of the meal and cooking is their chance to apply what they have learned and show their innovative side. As they devour upon their concoction, they learn even more about food than someone who had gone out to a restaurant to eat. If the meal is missing some spice, they can keep a note to themselves to add more of this or less of that for next time. Or if the meal turned out unfavorably, they can figure out what went wrong and what not to do next time. Usually, the chef himself is his own biggest critic. Cooking becomes very much like trial and error. The more a person cooks the better they become at cooking and the more knowledge they collect from their experiences. And those who have cooked are able to enjoy the food more than those who dine or are served. The chefs know the amount of work and effort that was put into the meal and, thus, are able to appreciate the food more.

Many people acquire their interest in food from their background. Family plays a large part in this. For most, family is the chief influence in the food a person eats. In the novel, Bittersweet, McAllester has a passion for food. His passion for food is triggered as he tried to identify his mother after her death and finds that his mother did pass something down to him: her passion for food. McAllester did not come from a particularly high class family; his family’s socioeconomic status did not affect his transition into a foodie. He became a foodie due to his fond memories of his mother in the kitchen. In many households, written recipes are not used. Dishes are taught to the younger generation and that is how the new generation learns to cook. It becomes a tradition in the family to know how to cook certain dishes and throughout the years stories are collected that are related to these meals which add sentiment to the food. Food is revered in a sense where it is more than just a breakfast, lunch, or dinner meal. It not only feeds the stomach but the rest of the body with love. It is no surprise that a foodie is born out of the admiration for food from the effects of the foodie’s family.

Overall, socioeconomic statuses have no effect on the foodie culture. The foodie culture should not be bound to certain genres of food and it is relative to each individual. Being a foodie means being enthusiastic about food and wanting to learn more about it. Anyone of any social ranking can attain the title of a foodie.