"Foodie" doesn't suit me...

[inaplasticcup]

...so I call myself a __________ instead.

[DoobieWah]

To quote the late great Justin Wilson:

"I am a gourmet, but I am more of a gourmand. A gourmet is somebody that's an epicurean. But a gourmand is somebody that's a P-I-G hog and that's what I am."

Couldn't have said it better myself.

[FoodExpression]

I very much dislike the term Foodie. It has a trendy sound to it. I tell people I just like to cook. No need for silly labels.

[awm922]

I use, "Professional Eater". Simple and to the point.

[ospreycove]

"Mangia Bene"

[Sumodo]

I am an omnivore. It's that simple.

[BelovedofIsis]

LOL

[cosmogrrl]

I like to refer to myself as a Bon Vivant. It seems to describe me better, after all "Life is a banquet and most poor suckers are starving to death!". And sometimes I use gourmand. Foodie seems too trend orientated for me.

[mariacarmen]

i do like Bon Vivant, tho i'd feel too precious saying it!

[ChiliDude]

Chilihead, Chilihead, and Chili Snob...

No beans in chili...Pullease!!!!!!

[rockandroller1]

I say foodie too, though I rarely find myself in a situation where I need to use some kind of word. Does it imply some level of food snobbishness? Honestly, yes. Is there some degree of that in almost all of us here? If everyone is as honest as me, honestly, yes. I own it, I'm ok with it. I am a bit of a food snob. The crap most people waste their time and calories on amazes me. The lack of care or attention to what people are eating or where it came from or the quality of the ingredients is staggering to me on almost a daily basis. When I go to the grocery and get in line to check out, I am honestly appalled at what I see in most people's carts, and it's clearly no wonder we have an obesity problem in this country from what I see in the carts. I'm not saying I'm a size 2 or anything, but I am a normal sized person and I get a moderate amount of good exercise and eat a pretty good diet most of the time, as often as I can. That's just not what I see most other people doing, and you can call me what you want if it's going to separate me from the folks going through the drive through every day. I care more about my food and my family's food than that.

[silence9]

I am a Victuals Laureate, TasteMaster, and Grub Hustler...

[inaplasticcup]

Grub Hustler. *LIKE* :)

[ChiliDude]

Bravo!

[beevod]

Why call yourself anything? Foodie sounds like something you'd call another kid at a playground.

[alliegator]

I don't really call myself anything, I just explain that cooking and eating are hobbies. The mister calls me a "friend of food".

[ChiliDude]

Eating is a necessity. If it was a hobby, I'd be dead.

[alliegator]

Very good point. I should specifiy "eating well" or "eating adventurously".

[mcf]

FOF... I like that! Cute.

[MGZ]

"Foodie" doesn't suit me either, . . . so I call myself MGZ instead.

[Duppie]

I do believe there was a tread about the very topic not too long ago and some interesting tags was brought up, Such as the difference between a gourmand,connoisseur, and foodie and I believe it resulted in a consensus that Foodie was the more {I'm paraphrasing here} polite,down to earth, everyman term to use for people who are somewhat obsessed with "Good" food.
Again there was your usual non joiners,blowhards, elitist and apologist but If memory serves me, most agreed that foodie was a bit overused and just plain hokey.

[Chinon00]

I like the term "Burgundian". Per the late writer and beer and whisky enthusiast Michael Jackson, in Belgium one who is known to appreciate good food and drink is sometimes referred to as a Burgundian. Belgium was once a part of Burgundy. Many Belgians consider their love of cuisine therefore directly attributal to that fact.

[ipsedixit]

F.I.S.

[mariacarmen]

No problem with foodie. I actually don't like being referred to as a chowhound -NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE -because that's too much like being part of an exclusive club to me. even though i'm on here night and day, i still feel like i'm not a true chowhound, whatever that means. In the end, though, it's just a word, and if it means I like eating, cooking,looking at, reading and talking about good food, you can call me it.

[goodhealthgourmet]

mc, i'm not sure any there's a one-size-fits-all definition for *precisely* what a "true" Chowhound is, because i think it means different things to each of us. but IMHO, you, my dear most definitely are one...and i mean that as a compliment.

i only refer to myself as a Chowhound *here* on CH, because i don't think the term is used all that much beyond these boards and most people wouldn't get what it means.

my issue with foodie is that people often conflate it with food snob, and i don't think of myself as elitist, nor do i like the idea that others might see me that way.

[mariacarmen]

well thanks GHG! quite something, coming from you, and i'm flattered. I often feel i'm not "serious" enough to be a CH, but as you say, there are all stripes and sizes of CHers. and you're right, i do notice that foodie often means food snob. which i certainly can be at times, even while being still relatively unlearned in the culinary universe. Yikes - that describes the worst kind of food snob! i try not to express my food pretensions too much.

[Harters]

I really don't have a problem with others thinking me a food snob or food elitist when I describe myself as a foody. At least they readily understand something about me, even if it is not completely accurate.

I also happily own up to having some snobbish and/or elitest tendencies when it comes to food - I know very few people in "real life" who devote as much time and effort towards food as I do. And I certainly know no-one prepared to spend the sort of money on high quality restaurant meals that I am. Of course, folk are going to think that snobbish and elitist - and it is difficult to disagree with the analysis. However, the people who "don't get" me spending a whole week's pension on a Michelin 2* meal (as we did last week) are also the same people who "don't get" me having a dirt cheap curry lunch in a backstreet asian cafe in the city centre.

[goodhealthgourmet]

a snob or an elitist is someone who feels that their beliefs or practices make them *superior* other people. in that sense, i'm no way an elitist or a snob - i don't look down on people for the foods they choose to eat. i may not enjoy the same things, or i may determine that certain foods others eat are not appropriate or desirable choices for *me,* but it doesn't mean i'm a better person than others who do eat them. that's what i meant.

[Chinon00]

Exactly although we are free to argue that the foods we select are superior to others.

[mariacarmen]

right. i have to say, just like that "troll" we had recently on a few threads who was touting the green can Kraft Parmesan - i know people like it, still use it, have a soft spot for it, and for many that's all they know and what they can afford - but i do feel i will always prefer to select a superior cheese for my table.

[goodhealthgourmet]

just like that "troll" we had recently on a few threads who was touting the green can Kraft Parmesan
~~~~~~~~~~~
trying to decipher the spelling & grammar in those posts made my brain hurt!

i grew up eating the canned Kraft stuff - as a kid, that was all i knew. i have no desire to eat it now, and fortunately i have the financial means to indulge in more expensive cheeses...but it's certainly no skin off my nose if others choose to enjoy the contents of the green can for whatever reason.

[mariacarmen]

I did too, and my 82-year-old dad would still be using it if we hadn't intervened and introduced him to parm regg (now that we're prepping most of his meals), which he fell in love with! Also, one day, after moving him up here from Orange County, he went to an art class potluck and someone brought brie - he actually brought home a piece to show me so I could see how delicious it was! i can't remember how many times over the years my sister and i brought good cheese into the house and he refused to try it. maybe it's just his time. whaddaya got to lose?

[huiray]

There are various kinds of "foodie" and it is in further conversation that what kind of "foodie" one is is revealed. I am fine with the term "foodie".
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/767455

"Food geek", on the other hand, I find hard to like. Not my personal choice.

"Chowhound" has less currency than "foodie" outside of CH, one is probably more likely to need to explain further to people when using the term, and it also does connote "glutton" to some. :-)

[Jay F]

huiray: ""Chowhound" has less currency than "foodie" outside of CH, one is probably more likely to need to explain further to people when using the term, and it also does connote "glutton" to some."
---------------------------------
Given the insistence of some members that you're not a real Chowhound if you don't eat foods you don't like, I'd raise your "glutton" to "human garbage disposal."

[huiray]

Heh.

[mcf]

Yes, that's pretty much how I feel adn operate. I think I just don't like labels that reek of secret handshake clubs. If asked, I just say I like to cook and eat good food.

[gaffk]

As I have said on other threads, a wise man once told me . . . "every label is a libel."

[buttertart]

Chowhound has a very retro and male sound to me, like what people used to call "good eating boys" in the 50's and 60's. He's a real chowhound. Closer to fresser than gourmet or even gourmand. I just say I love/am crazy about food.

[nobadfoodplz]

I have no problem with the word. There are many others that I take offense to, but one that allows me to enjoy food, fine with me.

[goodhealthgourmet]

food geek.

i love gastronaut and foodnik...though for some reason seeing those two words together makes me think of a Russian space station. freeze-dried MREs, anyone? ;)

[Quine]

I like food geek too.

[twyst]

food lover

[uwsister]

I tell people I'm obsessed with food. I don't need labels.

[gaffk]

As a wise man once told me: "Every label is a libel."

[iluvcookies]

David Sax, author of "Save the Deli" inscribed my copy to me, calling me a "true fresser". I'm sticking with that.

For those who may not know, a fresser is a Yiddish term for someone who likes to eat. It has a friendly/familiar connotation--a term of endearment if it comes from a friend or your grandma.

[ospreycove]

Baasic language German teachers have an expression for the difference between essen and fressen 'people essen, and animals fressen. Both words mean 'to eat' if you don't get it.

There is some other, subtle difference between these two words. In Hochdeutsch, High or standard German, Fressen is somewhat insulting when applied to a human eating.

[iluvcookies]

If your friend's Jewish bubbe calls you a fresser, that means you have a healthy appetite (and presumably like her cooking). I'm referring to Yiddish, not high German.

[ospreycove]

iluv, Yiddish is a very interesting derivative of Medieval German,Slavic variations, old French and old Italian used over time the insular Jewish communities of Central and Eastern Europe, in the regions that had German as its majority language, crafted its own dialect. Yiddish progressed to the point where it is recognized by many Universities, having a Chair, department, of Yiddish, UCLA, Brandeis, Columbia, U.P. are a few. A sad commentary on Yiddish is that once the staple of European immigrant household Jewish conversational communication; It is becoming less relevant in today's Jewish Culture.Your reference to Bubbe recognizes the generational decline of its importance.

[linguafood]

i'd venture the guess that iluv is quite aware of the history of yiddish, and wasn't asking for a lecture.

[ospreycove]

Thank you linguaf, I guess I was out of line.....Please excuse me.

[BelovedofIsis]

I found it interesting, I don't know much about yiddish.

[iluvcookies]

I grew up in NYC, a product of Italian and Eastern European heritage. My first job was in a kosher-style bakery. Helen, the owner, taught me to count and give pricing in Yiddish to the old-timers, a few of whom still bore the numbers from their time in concentration camps. So while I am far from fluent, this dying language is not lost on me.

I post on the Manhattan board from time to time and often recommend good deli for those who ask. It saddens me that this one-time NYC staple is slowly dying out. So when the good Mr. Sax inscribed my book, I felt like he knew exactly the right word to describe me.

[sedimental]

I say I am a bit of a food nerd or cooking geek. But it actually doesn't come up much. It might come up if I tell someone at work that I made 4 different types of potato salads on Sunday.....

I love the term gastronaut!!!!

[Harters]

Always happy to describe myself as a foody. Folk readily understand what I mean by it.

[Jay F]

I just say I like to cook.

[cowboyardee]

Cooking hobbyist/nerd.

I don't go out to eat - I conduct field research.

[BelovedofIsis]

genius, field research! I do a lot of field research myself ;)

[Chinon00]

Why do you think "Foodie" doesn't suit you? What about it don't you like or think is accurate?
Thanks

[Mona Williams]

"Foodie" sounds a little too much like "greedy" to me. Not that I'm not that . . . Also, I feel like I'm being a little look-at-me when I put a label on myself. I'd rather, like Belovedoflis, just say what I like and what I do.

[inaplasticcup]

I think mostly I just don't like the sound of the word. I usually call myself a foodnik or foodgeek, both of which sound more like nouns than adjectives to my ear, among other things. But I don't think the term is necessarily innacurate and I accept the title when someone else calls me a foodie. :)

[twyst]

foodie definitely has come to have a bit of a negative connotation. Most people think foodies are food snobs.

[Chinon00]

I think that for many merely having opinions and preferences or just giving something like food too much attention automatically makes one a snob regardless of the title.

[twyst]

There was a thread here where a guy asked if it was appropriate to order steaks at a steakhouse at "128 degrees in the center" instead of saying medium rare. People who arent as obsessed by food as people who post here think of situations like that when people use the term foodie. Im not saying its what the true definition of the term foodie is, but I think thats what the average guy walking down the street thinks when he hears the word foodie.

[Quine]

LOL recall that thread and the OP was not happy that everyone else didn't think that was the "idea of the century!"

[BelovedofIsis]

I just say that I love food and I love to cook. (foodie has a slightly negative bent to me after a bad experience with a friends ex-husband)

[LindaWhit]

Liked Beloved, I love food and love to cook. Hence my avatar (and one of my online names on another message board). So that's what I tell people if they don't already know.

[Paprikaboy]

Gourmand, gastronaut or my favourite for myself is trencherman.

[inaplasticcup]

I just learned a new word thanks to you! :)