I am going to write about my subject, which is “the making of a foodie” backwards. First we have to know the difference between Gourmand, Gourmet and a Foodie.

Do these words have different meanings?

Gourmand is a person who enjoys eating well. In the old days, it was described as a “glutton” – not a great name to describe your best friend, but maybe somebody you didn’t like could be called a glutton.   This person is really not interested in the preparation of the dishes per se, but he, she (politically correct) likes to eat good food.

The person who describes himself as a Gourmet is a connoisseur of good food. This person is interested in the preparation, the execution of a dish. He wants to learn about it.

Now we talk about the Foodie. This is a relatively a new word.  It was coined in 1981 by Paul Levy and Ann Barr who in 1984 wrote the book “The official Foodie handbook. “

If you hadn’t heard the word then, you have heard that word many, many times by now. A foodie and a gourmet could be the same person. The foodie is more an amateur who loves food and want to learn about it.

Now, back to beginning (I don’t mean the beginning of time!!) -The “backward” part.

I am the proud aunt of three beautiful girls; two of them live in London and one here in Salem.

Here comes the “foodie” part. I think you know I am a foodie and my father was a foodie. Now I realize that he was the epitome of a foodie. Anyway, both mothers of the girls, my nieces, are not foodies. They like to eat, but they will not fit the description of a foodie.

One of the husbands is a foodie; he loves to cook and he is very good at it. The interesting part is that my niece who lives in London is finicky about food, but the two girls eat and like everything. When they were 3 and 4 years old, they even ate sushi. On the other end, my Salem niece doesn’t like almost anything. Ok, granted she is 6 years old….!

How do you end up with a foodie in the family if the mother, who spends most of the time with the children, is not a foodie? Is the father’s influence so strong on them even though the time spent with them is not as long?

Oh well!

In the meantime keep on cooking.

Lullu