i was sitting around with leigh (my fiancé and personal stylist) and her brother, john (who i owe a substantial amount of money to, thanks to a series of bad decisions on my part regarding last week's fantasy football match-up) last night, and we were trying to define "foodie". this came after a fantastic impromptu dinner of chicken sausages over shitake mushrooms with a mushroom demi-glace and a baby spinach salad. we drank 2005 Il Posta Malbec from Argentina and discussed what it meant to be a "foodie". we also watched the Patriots absolutely destroy the Buffalo Bills (and with only one T.D. pass to Ben Watson, preserved my fantasy football win this week! yeah, baby!)
what is a foodie? to me, a foodie is someone who appreciates food and eating. not simply someone that likes to eat a lot, but rather, somebody who delights in the art of food and cooking. there are, of course, food snobs--who can't imagine ingesting anything but the finest and most expensive of ingredients, but to me, a true foodie enjoys all levels of cuisine. a Burger King chicken sandwich? yes, please. john even suggested there could be such a thing as a "junk-foodie": someone with a palate for the fast, fried, and fatty. what kind of foodie are you? leigh just finished reading "Gluten Free Girl" and the author often speaks of her passion for food. where do you stand? do you eat because you have to, or is it an event to be celebrated?
i write this while waiting for my chicken stock to reduce. leigh and i are hosting thanksgiving for the first time this year and we're doing it gluten-free. the gravy will be a pan sauce thickened with demi-glace. the stuffing will be corn bread with chorizo and the bird is twenty eight pounds! i personally don't think it's going to fit in the oven. we'll need a chainsaw to cut it in half. leigh says it will be fine. mashed potatoes with horseradish cream, haricot vert with almonds, brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes round out the meal. yes...there will be wine.
so wish me luck getting this whole dog and pony show together. to all of you, i wish the happiest of thanksgivings. be safe, eat well and have love in your heart.
i'm a dark meat man, myself.
geoffrey
defining "foodie" and the road to thanksgiving...
