I Am Not a Foodie, or Scrambled Eggs with Tomatoes
I am not a foodie. It is true that I walk through cookware stores with my fingers touching each and every white gratin dish, and that I am in possession of a palate keen on sea urchin and internal organs. But foodies are starting to remind me too much of hipsters. What started as a descriptor I could get behind (sure, I have shaggy hair, like indie rock, gravitate towards dirty bars), has morphed into a word that has become, I fear, sneeringly self-satisfied and a bit pretentious.
To be sure, foodies aren’t all bad by any means. I greatly admire someone who can pick out several subtle notes of spice in a dish, or succeeds with a cool head and hand at executing complicated, delicate dishes. When I say that I am not a foodie I mean that I am not a born critic, that I want my food to be a means to an end, rather than a point of scrutiny.
I just want to make life, as I live it, lovelier. That’s why I frequent two great coffee shops in my neighborhood but have probably not yet sampled the “best” cappuccino in the city. For me, the pleasure of food, the table, and morning coffee have everything to do with fortifying in the face of depletion, communing in the face of disconnection, and living with just a bit of grace and care.
That is why I am a champion of the simplest suppers. This fall, there were several unassuming dinners of soup and fruit and salad that Sebastian and I ate at our round kitchen table. I am not embarrassed to admit that the soup often came from cans or that we also sometimes unwrapped squares of dark, bitter chocolate my boss brought back from Lyon. The food never upstaged the talk those nights. The talk was sweet and sustaining.
Last night we had scrambled eggs with lots of tiny chopped grape tomatoes, and buying these eggs from the farmer’s market was one of the highlights of my week. I had forced myself out of my computer-bound inertia on a Monday afternoon and stepped into the cold sunshine. People were outnumbered by varieties of apples, and I saw the strangest, most fascinating broccoli hybrid. A foodie might have asked about its provenance and taken it home for dissection and experiment met with great results. I was too distracted by the next treat in sight, a distraction I regret.
If we must eat, then I would like to go about this necessity with as much art and joy as possible. Does this make me a foodie? Maybe in a looser definition of the word. So much of what is memorable at mealtime has little to do with the food itself. I know I made delicious vegetarian lasagna for a room full of my friends in college. But what is most memorable from that night was watching the low candlelight flicker on my friends’ faces and the red walls behind them. It was probably snowing that night, but even in my drafty apartment we were warm and renewed. I thought then I would like to cook for them, or other such hungry, appreciative people, as often as possible.
Tess: Scrambled eggs and tomatoes is a meal that needs no embellishment. It’s perfect the way it is.5 years ago
Sarah: That’s what I think, too, Tess.5 years ago
Alison R.: that article about the ‘hipster exodus’ is hilarious! thanks for linking to it
5 years ago
Gregor: Even foodies would probably agree that what drives them is not at its root finding that best cappuccino or bibimbop, but wanting to live that vibrant, enriched life that you write about so eloquently here! I love that vegetable lasagna story, maybe because it has taken me a long time to let go and realize that sometimes (not that the lasagna wasn’t fantastic, of course I’m sure it was as you say) you just say f*** the food, let’s eat. And let the candlelight, stupid jokes, and silly furry hats that your friends show up in help us lead the lives we want to lead!5 years ago
shauna: Yes!
I love this post, and you made me come out and say something here. Even though I keep a food blog, dedicatedly, I have come to flinch at that word, foodie. It’s just another way some people have of feeling better than other people.
Great food is about connection. Connection with the grape tomatoes, the farmer selling them to you, and the people you eat them with at night. That’s all, really.
Thanks for putting it so well.5 years ago
Sarah: Gregor, I agree, totally. Sometimes I just feel like the word “foodie” itself is devolving to mean someone who’s interested in the best of everything, rather than a vibrant life. Just bring on the furry hats!
Shauna, I’m really flattered that you wrote. Food *is* about connection, and I’m really glad you commented! I hope you’ll come back, foodie or not.
5 years ago
The American Geordie: Geez, and I thought being a foodie just meant enjoying your food. I had no idea it had turned into an obsessive occupation. Well, include me out. I’ve always been suspicious of anyone who said they’d had The Best of anything. No one can possibly try every variation of most of the foods we eat. And why one person’s tastes should arbitrate for the rest of us, with no questions asked, is beyond me.
On the other hand, I think furry hats are cool.5 years ago
pbg: uh oh i got a 32 on that test
5 years ago
Collyn: hey Sarah, doing some weeknight baking… can you share any favorite holiday cookie recipes?5 years ago
Sarah: PBG, You are totally a foodie in disguise! According to that quiz, I’m a bon vivant. Is anyone surprised?
American Geordie, Isn’t it so annoying when someone tells you where you can get the Best something, as if they are an arbiter of taste? Especially when that person is Rachael Ray?
Collyn, For weeknight baking, and really for anytime baking, I love macaroons. They are the simplest and so good with a cup of tea.5 years ago
Molly: Amen, Sarah! This sentence – “So much of what is memorable at mealtime has little to do with the food itself” – had me nodding happily in agreement. Food is a wonderful and wonderfully pleasurable thing, but what I really love about it is the context it comes with: the people, the place, the candlelight. I enjoy food because, at the bottom of it all, it reminds me of who I am and who I have been.
Thanks for such a thoughtful piece, Sarah! It really resonates with a lot of things I’ve been thinking lately…5 years ago
generation next: I just came across your blog, and think it’s great. I loved the satire article about hipsters!5 years ago