Gourmet Or Not Gourmet...

I have a confession to make. I take food a bit too seriously. That's not to say I don't enjoy it. In fact, as one could probably tell just by look at me, I like food a lot. The problem is that I like to cook and watch lots of cooking shows. It seems this has me convinced that I'm a food critic and that all things I eat must be judged. Today alone I explained that while I think certain mushrooms are yummy, they feel all gross when I eat them. Not unusual by any means. Surely average people talk about food being mushy and too tough. But not Kyle the Tungsten Tournant (Look it up. I can't spoon feed ya people!)! To me, the taste is tantalizing and decedent, while the texture is far below my liking.

When you put my father and I together, it gets even worse. We both love Food Network, especially the competitions. So, naturally, we began using the judges' jargon in our own culinary endeavors. Only, it spread beyond our own cooking. Now we dine in restaurants and dissect the meal as we're eating it! It's no more a "How's your food?"/"Good" exchange. It's "How's your food?"/"Well, the attempt is there, but the execution is less than cohesive and lacks refinement." It's as if our tearing the food to shreds with our words is how we let out our hunter/gatherer instinct. And heaven forbid we disagree.

There's only one thing that I see wrong with this whole exchange, and it's not the massive snobbyness we show judging things we can't make. Hell, that's the whole appeal of reality shows like "Project Runway" and "Top Chef". The real problem is that we don't seem to enjoy the food as much anymore. Everything, even foods once adored, is now less than satisfactory. I even have to put effort and time into making a ham and cheese sandwich to be semi-happy with it. Maybe if I turn off the cooking shows now and then, I can get back to the simpler things I enjoys scarfing down before.

... Although, I do make the best damned ham and cheese, if I do say so myself.