Ye-HaThe Food Network and
I have found myself in a social circle fairly close to the "hipsters" seen roaming the trendy, gentrified neighborhoods of most large cities. With hipsters often come forms of elitism, whether it's music, fashion, and even food and drink. I'm guilty, yet increasingly cautious, of hipster elitism too.
My father was a chef at some of the finest restaurants in town, so a lot of my food elitism stemmed from hearing things like, "real chefs don't go to culinary school, they work their way up from the very bottom," and "only idiots eat that crap." I also was eating a weekly surf and turf of filet mignon and fresh lobster tail, as well as knowing what a Your text goes heretapenadeYour text goes here was in fourth grade. He also got me started in my short kitchen career as a dishwasher at 13, prep cook at 14, and line and saute at various places off and on until I was 20. My last "back of the house" job was at a yuppie deli in which I freely (yet against store policy) sampled fine meats, pungent cheeses and befriended sushi chefs who loved making me try exotic sea creatures. Sounds good, but that job was so insufferable that I walked out mid-shift. I served at another place (in which I was also trained in the kitchen) for two years before leaving the restaurant world, never to look back.
To get to the point, I know my way around food more than the average slob, but I still don't know much about gourmet gastronomy. Enter The Food Network to let everyone else know that they're equally qualified as me, if not far more, because they saw Bobby Flay easily whip up some moist chicken breasts on a grill or some other talking head sear a tuna steak. From the mind of the self conscious, hipster elitist:
"I'm going to blow their minds when I sear this tuna steak."
Said hipster then dumps enough canola oil to fry a shore lunch into a pan and barely heats it before throwing in inch wide strips of $10/lb sashimi-grade tuna into the pan and turning it a gray, canned tuna color, taste and texture. Bon Apetit!
This same brand of hipster aggressively researches Belgian ales to tell you that your favorite "isn't up to Trappist standards," or when told of an eatery that serves great food asks "well, it's probably not as good as this place. Have you tried their sweet potato fries with saffron aoli? "
I've encountered groups of foodies and overheard them recommending each other in non- arrogant tones what restaurants are great, what grocery stores carry what and secret places to get exotic rarities. The thing about this niche of people is that they're either chefs or have worked in the food industry, or are middle aged and well off enough to buy whole truffles and have foie gras at Christmas dinner. I doubt any look to Sandra Lee for tips on how to zest up a Ritz cracker (or make a cocktail formerly reserved for 1970s prostitutes).
My generation (born in 1981, whatever that is called) has been exposed to the cooking shows of Food Network, and with shows like Iron Chef and Everday Italian, all of a sudden everyone has become an upper class diner and expert home chef. This assuredness combined with hipster elitism has created the Aggressive Foodie. Every time they ask if you've eaten at a restaurant, they're hoping that you say you haven't been there only to hold that fact over you. Every food they've tried that you haven't is another notch on their elitist belt. "Oh, you've never had blood sausage?"
These also tend to be the same people who pride themselves on not being suckers for marketing ploys, yet are the first people looking for trends like Angus or Kobe. When working at the yuppie deli, customers kept asking about "Boar's Head" products which we did not carry. I went back to that deli a couple years later because I couldn't find a better Capicola, only to find out they switched to Boar's Head due to customer demand. Their Capicola was sub par to say the least, but these yuppies were privy to a special brand that "even this deli couldn't get." Now they're stuck with average, mass produced meat.
The bottom line is that some people are more adventurous than others. Some people like to spear fish, some people rock climb, some join the Peace Corps. Some people like to eat raw fish and roe, stinky cheese and fatted livers. The differences are that a Peace Corps has never made me feel like less of a person for not doing what they do. I'll tell a person who's afraid of raw fish to try sushi because they might like it much like a rock climbing buddy might persuade me to try, but if I don't fall in love with rock climbing, odds are he's not going to belittle me for not digging his hobby. "How can you not like sushi? Guess you can eat the chicken skewers or somethin' on the kids menu."
To avoid these types, stay away from Asian fusion, anywhere with ambient techno coming from a prop DJ, and any restaurant that's mysteriously packed yet hasn't been around more than 2 years.
My father was a chef at some of the finest restaurants in town, so a lot of my food elitism stemmed from hearing things like, "real chefs don't go to culinary school, they work their way up from the very bottom," and "only idiots eat that crap." I also was eating a weekly surf and turf of filet mignon and fresh lobster tail, as well as knowing what a Your text goes heretapenadeYour text goes here was in fourth grade. He also got me started in my short kitchen career as a dishwasher at 13, prep cook at 14, and line and saute at various places off and on until I was 20. My last "back of the house" job was at a yuppie deli in which I freely (yet against store policy) sampled fine meats, pungent cheeses and befriended sushi chefs who loved making me try exotic sea creatures. Sounds good, but that job was so insufferable that I walked out mid-shift. I served at another place (in which I was also trained in the kitchen) for two years before leaving the restaurant world, never to look back.
"I'm going to blow their minds when I sear this tuna steak."
This same brand of hipster aggressively researches Belgian ales to tell you that your favorite "isn't up to Trappist standards," or when told of an eatery that serves great food asks "well, it's probably not as good as this place. Have you tried their sweet potato fries with saffron aoli? "
I've encountered groups of foodies and overheard them recommending each other in non- arrogant tones what restaurants are great, what grocery stores carry what and secret places to get exotic rarities. The thing about this niche of people is that they're either chefs or have worked in the food industry, or are middle aged and well off enough to buy whole truffles and have foie gras at Christmas dinner. I doubt any look to Sandra Lee for tips on how to zest up a Ritz cracker (or make a cocktail formerly reserved for 1970s prostitutes).
My generation (born in 1981, whatever that is called) has been exposed to the cooking shows of Food Network, and with shows like Iron Chef and Everday Italian, all of a sudden everyone has become an upper class diner and expert home chef. This assuredness combined with hipster elitism has created the Aggressive Foodie. Every time they ask if you've eaten at a restaurant, they're hoping that you say you haven't been there only to hold that fact over you. Every food they've tried that you haven't is another notch on their elitist belt. "Oh, you've never had blood sausage?"
These also tend to be the same people who pride themselves on not being suckers for marketing ploys, yet are the first people looking for trends like Angus or Kobe. When working at the yuppie deli, customers kept asking about "Boar's Head" products which we did not carry. I went back to that deli a couple years later because I couldn't find a better Capicola, only to find out they switched to Boar's Head due to customer demand. Their Capicola was sub par to say the least, but these yuppies were privy to a special brand that "even this deli couldn't get." Now they're stuck with average, mass produced meat.
The bottom line is that some people are more adventurous than others. Some people like to spear fish, some people rock climb, some join the Peace Corps. Some people like to eat raw fish and roe, stinky cheese and fatted livers. The differences are that a Peace Corps has never made me feel like less of a person for not doing what they do. I'll tell a person who's afraid of raw fish to try sushi because they might like it much like a rock climbing buddy might persuade me to try, but if I don't fall in love with rock climbing, odds are he's not going to belittle me for not digging his hobby. "How can you not like sushi? Guess you can eat the chicken skewers or somethin' on the kids menu."
To avoid these types, stay away from Asian fusion, anywhere with ambient techno coming from a prop DJ, and any restaurant that's mysteriously packed yet hasn't been around more than 2 years.
