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It isn’t just what you talk about during dinner,
but what you have to say about the meal itself, so try these
terms to sound like a real food snob. Compiled by David Kamp
and Marion Rosenfeld.
Carême Antonin
Social-climbing French chef (1783-1833)
who transcended his origins as a lowborn pastry cook to become
the greatest authority on French cuisine of the 19th century,
concocting elaborate gorgefests for such clients as the French
statesman Talleyrand and Czar Alexander I of Russia. Generally
upheld by snobs in unflattering counterpoint to French chefs
of later eras. The Troisgros brothers unabashedly embraced the
peasant fare; not for them the lofty pretensions of Carême.
Chino Farm
Unassuming, smallish (45-acre) farm located
just north of San Diego, California, renowned for produce so
exquisitely flavourful that even die-hard local foods enthusiasts
like Alice Waters resort to air-freighting it hundreds or thousands
of miles to their kitchens. The farm’s modest roadside
stand, known as the Vegetable Shop, is a major pilgrimage site
for hard-core strawberry oglers and those who wish to exult
in the presence of the children of Japanese-American founders
Junzo and Hatsuyo Chino. I generally use only local stuff, but,
man, I flipped when I opened up that crate of Chino’s albino
beetroot.
David Elizabeth
Snob-exalted English food writer
(1913-1992) and trailblazer of what Alexander Cockburn has called
the “cookbook pastoral” voice. Taking an avid interest
in Mediterranean and French country cooking in the post-war
years, David turned out two masterworks, Italian Food (1954)
and French Provincial Cooking (1960), which, though sometimes
vague and imprecise in their recipes, neatly evoked a sun-dappled
Southern European wonderland of lusty, ungourmet-ish home cookery
theretofore unknown to English-reading audiences. To snobs,
a far more important influence than Julia Child or Marcella
Hazan.
Escoffier
Master French chef (1846-1935) who, though
often cited as the source of the rich, severely codified French
haute cuisine against which it’s fashionable to rebel,
was himself rebelling against the even richer, more elaborate
menus prescribed by Carême. Achieving worldwide fame in
partnership with hotel manager extraordinaire Cesar Ritz, Escoffier
articulated his vision of what is now seen as “classic”
French cuisine in his book Le Guide Culinaire (1903).
Forager
A person in the employ of one or more restaurants
whose job is to scour the nearby countryside for wild edibles
in their natural habitat, or, less romantically, to establish
relationships with local specialty farmers who have cultivated
esoteric produce. The very idea of the forager, redolent as
it is of adorable woodland creatures scratching and snoofling
their way across a pine-needly forest floor, is irresistible
to snobs. I met my first forager when she appeared at the kitchen
back door with a basket of the most gorgeous chanterelles I’d
ever seen.
Global Knives
Very expensive, very fashionable, very
sharp cutlery manufactured in Japan. The subject of hot debate
among knife snobs, Globals, distinguished by their design-forward
dimpled-metal handles, are significantly thinner and ligher
than those manufactured by the German standard-bearers Wusthof-Trident
and Henckels, but are nevertheless regarded with suspicion by
traditionalists, who prefer European-style heft. Ever since
I got the Global, Chef has been more complimentary about my
brunoises.
Lusty
Stock adjective deployed by food writer
to confer an air of unbridled peasant sensuality upon foodstuffs.
By the time I finished off the last of the lusty beef-cheek
ravioli, Mario had reduced me to a quivering mess.
Plugrá
Purportedly “European-style”
butter manufactured by Keller’s Creamery, the American
dairy-products conglomerate that also owns the Borden, Breakstone’s
and Hotel Bar companies. Made with a higher fat content than
ordinary butter (plus gras is French for “fattier”),
Plugrá, a favourite of chefs, delivers tenderer pastries
and more velvety sauces – not to mention Atkins-approved
arteriosclerosis.
Salumi
Catchall Italian word for cured-pork products,
deployed by snobs eager to demonstrate their grasp of the fact
that they know the difference between salumi and salami –
the latter of which, like pancetta and soppressata, is a kind
of salumi.
Waters Alice
After Julia Child, the most important
American food person today, having founded Chez Panisse, the
legendary Berkeley, California, bistro, in 1971, thereby launching
California. |
