How Being a Food Blogger is Turning Me Into a Food Snob
November 9, 2009 by Deb
Filed under Anecdotes and Stories
My Cookerati co-blogger (and sister) Diana and I were having a little Skype chat the other day, talking about the different foods we like to eat and how our tastes have changed over the years. Since taking on a food blog we’ve both been exposed to some premium food and drink. That’s not a complaint, mind you, but Diana and I don’t exactly come from a house filled with culinary excellence. Growing up in our budget-minded household meant that dinners consisted of huge vats of pea soup or spaghetti with watery tomato sauce. For us, fast food was a gourmet meal.
Except I can’t really take fast food anymore.
Recently my husband, son, and I met my sister in law’s family at Friendly’s to share a meal and I wasn’t down with any of the options – all of which were obviously frozen then fried. Friendly’s used to be a favorite late night after concert munchie haunt with my friends and I when were in our teens and early 20’s, but lately, I can’t take it. Ditto other family friendly restaurant chains. In many the food ranges from “meh” to “palatable.”
When we started Cookerati it was to discuss our love of home cooking and baking, but in the past years since, our palates have become much more refined.
A few cases in point:
- Before becoming a food blogger I used to raid my son’s candy jar for mini-chocolate bars from Halloween. Now I hold out for the premium stuff. Having access to a food blog means being able to taste some of the world’s finest chocolate, and let me tell you, it’s better than anything you can buy in the supermarket.
- I’m a coffee snob now too. That stuff on sale at Stop ‘N Shop is good for a caffeine fix, but it’s not what I’d consider a good cup of coffee.
- Instead of mixing up a quick casserole from the back of a soup can, I find myself looking up some recipes from scratch created by top chefs and cookbook kings. There is, indeed, a difference.
- My mom loves what I call “wine cooler” wines. You know the kind I mean. They’re blackberry flavored and sweet as all get out, but they don’t taste a thing like wine. I used to drink them too until I started learning about real wines. My preference is for a Chilean Merlot or California Chardonnay over a sickeningly sweet Raspberry Peach Zinfandel.
- We’re learning about ingredients we never would have tried before. Diana is cooking with lemon grass and quinoa, for goodness sake!
So yeah, I think I’m turning into a food snob and I don’t think that’s such a bad thing. As a food snob I’m eating less friend and processed food and learning how to cook with fresh, organic ingredients. That’s never a bad thing.
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Deb that doesn’t make you a ’snob’ – just someone with good taste
Anyone with a palate is not going back to mass produced crap once they have tried the good stuff – that’s not snobbery, just good common sense.
You turned your nose up at purple risotto though. I am a huge chocolate snob now. I buy my own and have a little bite of it each night instead of gulping down cheapo chocolate bars by the brickload. I made some frozen broccoli with a leftover vegetable tray, and boy now I wish I hadn’t because I think I’m going to do it myself from now on. Those store freezer bags just don’t taste as nice. Tomatoes out of season? You’ve got to be kidding.
I bought my son chocolate for his band section and I thought – well it’s good enough for a teenager.
I didn’t turn my nose up at the purple risotto, Miss Smarty. I said my son wouldn’t eat it. It has to look like real food or he’s not having it.
But it is real food, no dyes or gmo or any weird stuff, just purple cauliflower and it grows that way. You can even get seeds and grow it yourself. It’s even healthier, kind of like purple cabbage. Does he eat purple cabbage?
Nope. He picks it out of his salad.
My son never liked anything with a sauce on it. He tolerates it now.
Heck Max, that’s good enough for me!
Ever since I started my food blog, I’ve noticed that I’m more discerning about the food I choose to eat and the ingredients I choose to cook. In this respect, it’s not ‘food snobbery’ at all! However, I hope that I do not become judgmental of others’ food choices; my belief is that food is such a personal choice, influenced by so many unique, individual values, experiences, etc. What we choose to eat may not always be the best in quality or nutrition but value is found in other ways (nostalgia, etc.) Which is how I justify the occasional McD’s Filet o’ Fish . . . ! 8-D
I’m totally with you all! While my blog isn’t about food, over the past several years I have expanded my cooking quite a bit, and so has hubby (grilling). What we both have noticed is that most of the regular restaurants we used to really enjoy we find ourselves disappointed it more often than not. We find the food to be very overpriced for what it is and we sit there and say how we could have done it better at home. I’ve learned to not even bother with a lot of “back of the box” recipes any longer because they just don’t compare to making from scratch and with fresh ingredients. That’s not to say that there aren’t some things we still love like that – but they are fewer and far between these days.
Love this post Deb! I can totally relate to this. Being a food blogger has opened so many doors and exposed me to so many things, there is no going back.
I share the same “affliction”. I’m not a snob, per se, I just have set my standards a bit higher. I always feel that fast food is merely “sustenance” (if that), and only begrudgingly buy produce from the “regular” grocery store. Right now I’m mourning the closest farmer’s market – which is now pretty much closed for the winter – because it means I’ll be forced to shop at grocery stores where the produce just isn’t as fresh. Okay, so maybe that does make me a snob. It’s the food blog’s fault! Same situation with cheese. I used to be okay with dyed-yellow cheddar, parmesan-in-a-can, and processed American cheese food. Now? Natural cheese, and only the real Parmagiano-Reggiano for me! I think I’m fine with the snob part though, aren’t you?