Gourmet vs. Gourmand

[filth]

It seems that some people use the word interchangeably on here.

I always though that a gourmet was a person who appreciated fine food and a gourmand was a glutton. When I googled for the definition, the preferred def of gourmand was a lover of fine food.

Is the glutton component of gourmand "old school"?

Discuss.

[shepodd]

Y'all have it right: gourmets know food, gourmand's just eat a lot.
The dilemma is that people are now using gourmand as a non-professional.
Wouldn't "foodie" do as well and not gross out the rest of us?

[tuqueboy]

in french, gourmet is an adjective and gourmand is a noun. people here use them (incorrectly) interchangeably a lot of the time.

[Fuser]

This question came up when I was working at a copy desk of our local newspaper -- where such things are taken very very seriously. I believe the outcome was that according to most current definitions the words can be used interchangeably, although some note that a distinction once was made. Personally, I'll never use them interchangeably and when someone brags of being a gourmand, I tend to smirk and look at their waistline/butt.

[sirregular]

A gourmand is considered a glutton, yes.

French culinary proponents are advocating that the French Catholic Church update the infamous "Seven Deadly Sins" list to refer to "gloutonnerie" rather than "gourmandise".

My Blog: http://www.epicureforum.com

[gido]

I've noticed the misuse of gourmand here and elsewhere in the food world. At least I was convinced based on a couple years of high school French that it was wrong to use them interchangeably.

Then I confirmed it.

I was in Europe at a wedding about a year and a half ago and asked the question of some fellow wedding guests, a couple from Lyon, and they confirmed to me that, at least in French, gourmet is a lover of fine food and gourmand is a lover of lots of food.

[rednyellow]

I think a gourmet actively cooks or prepares the good stuff. A gourmond just enjoys the good stuff. Never associated either with gluttony.

[jmckee]

In the words of the late Justin Wilson, in his "Gourmet & Gourmand Cookbook": "A gourmet is a person what likes fine food. A gourmand isn't nothin' but a P-I-G hog. Me, I'm both."

[DanaB]

>>>I always though that a gourmet was a person who appreciated fine food and a gourmand was a glutton. <<<

That was always my understanding as well, but I have recently heard the two words used exchangeably. According to my dictionary, a "gourmet" is a connoisseur of fine food and drink, i.e. an epicure, while a "gourmand" is a person who delights in eating well and heartily; so, obviously, the words are related, but the second has the nuance of eating "heartily" as well as enjoying fine food.

The etymology of the words clears things up a bit. "Gourmand" is from the Middle English word "gourmaunt,' which meant glutton, and "gourmaunt" itself was derived from the Old French word "gourmand/gourmant." That word came from the Old French gromet/gourmet, which was a wine merchant's servant.