Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, often quite rich courses. Historically the ingredients used in the meal tended to be rare for the region, which could also be impacted by the local state and religious customs. The term and the related characteristics are typically used to describe people with refined tastes and enthusiasm. Gourmet food is frequently provided in more expensive, smaller servings. When it comes to Gourmet, there are also frequently cross-cultural interactions that introduce new ingredients, materials, and traditions.
Origin of term
The word ''gourmet'' is from the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
term for a wine broker or ''
taste-vin
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
'' employed by a wine dealer. ''Friand'' was formerly the reputable name for a connoisseur of delicious things that were not eaten primarily for nourishment: "A good gourmet", wrote the conservative eighteenth-century ''
Dictionnaire de Trévoux'', employing this original sense, "must have ''le goût friand''", or a refined palate. The pleasure is also visual: "J'aime un
ragoût
Ragout ( French ''ragoût''; ) is a main dish stew.
Etymology
The term comes from the French ''ragoûter'', meaning: "to revive the taste".
Preparation
The basic method of preparation involves slow cooking over a low heat. The main ingredients ...
, et je suis friand",
Giacomo Casanova
Giacomo Girolamo Casanova (, ; 2 April 1725 – 4 June 1798) was an Italian adventurer and author from the Republic of Venice. His autobiography, (''Story of My Life''), is regarded as one of the most authentic sources of information about the c ...
declared, "mais s'il n'a pas bonne mine, il me semble mauvais". In the eighteenth century, ''gourmet'' and ''gourmand'' carried disreputable connotations of
gluttony
Gluttony ( la, gula, derived from the Latin ''gluttire'' meaning "to gulp down or swallow") means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, or wealth items, particularly as status symbols.
In Christianity, it is considered a sin if ...
, which only ''gourmand'' has retained. ''Gourmet'' was rendered respectable by
Monsieur Grimod de la Reynière, whose ''Almanach des Gourmands'', essentially the first
restaurant guide
A restaurant is a business that prepares and serves food and drinks to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on the premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services. Restaurants vary greatly in appearan ...
, appeared in Paris from 1803 to 1812.
Previously, even the liberal ''
Encyclopédie
''Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers'' (English: ''Encyclopedia, or a Systematic Dictionary of the Sciences, Arts, and Crafts''), better known as ''Encyclopédie'', was a general encyclopedia publis ...
'' offered a moralising tone in its entry ''Gourmandise'', defined as "refined and uncontrolled love of good food", employing reproving illustrations that contrasted the frugal ancient
Sparta
Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...
ns and
Romans of the Republic with the decadent luxury of
Sybaris
Sybaris ( grc, Σύβαρις; it, Sibari) was an important city of Magna Graecia. It was situated in modern Calabria, in southern Italy, between two rivers, the Crathis (Crati) and the Sybaris (Coscile).
The city was founded in 720 BC ...
. The
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
' ''Dictionnaire de Trévoux'' took the ''Encyclopédistes'' to task, reminding its readers that ''gourmandise'' was one of the
Seven Deadly Sins
The seven deadly sins, also known as the capital vices or cardinal sins, is a grouping and classification of vices within Christian teachings. Although they are not directly mentioned in the Bible, there are parallels with the seven things ...
.
Associated terms
The term ''gourmet'' can refer to a person with refined or discriminating taste who is knowledgeable in the craft and art of food and
food preparation
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
.
''
Gourmand
A gourmand is a person who takes great pleasure and interest in consuming good food and drink. ''Gourmand'' originally referred to a person who was "a glutton for food and drink", a person who eats and drinks excessively; this usage is now rare. ...
'' carries additional connotations of one who enjoys food in great quantities.
An ''epicure'' is similar to a gourmet, but the word may sometimes carry overtones of excessive refinement.
A ''gourmet chef'' is a
chef
A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...
of particularly high caliber of cooking talent and skill.
Regional differences
What is considered gourmet is different depending on the time and geographic region. What is gourmet historically depended upon what ingredients the people of that region had access to and how easily they acquire them. For instance, seafood could be considered a luxury in an area that lacks fish, whereas it would not be seen as such in an area near the ocean or a great river. Gourmet tended, and still does in many parts of the world, to be revered by a person with access to wealth because gourmet food has always been expensive. The expense was the result of a scarcity of ingredients for a particular food in the region at the time. This fact meant they needed to be brought in from far away, which brought a variety of risks to the merchants. Merchants would have to deal with weather conditions, thieves, and broken equipment, intermediaries, and other such factors that could delay or interrupt the shipment of the good at the cost of their lives and fortune. Thus they asked for higher prices. For millenniums, about 10% of the population could eat food that may have been considered gourmet in their time.
[Laudan, R. (2013). ''Cuisine and Empire: Cooking in World History''. University of California Press.] Potentially 80% of the global population worked in food production and would have eaten more typical meals to survive.
The typical meal would be what they could most easily get their hands on. In Britain, for instance, that was gruels, vegetables, small amounts of wild game, and grains.
Another factor would be religious/cultural beliefs and customs, which have a significant impact on the food that was eaten. For instance, Jewish and Islamic cultures have rules for not only what they can eat, but how to prepare the food and what it can be paired with.
Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
14:6-8["Pork (لَحم الخنزير) From the Quranic Arabic Corpus – Ontology of Quranic Concepts". Retrieved 29 December 2015.] To eat specific food items they must be Kosher (for Jews) Jhatka (for Hindu) and Halal (for Muslims).
One well-known example is that neither Jews nor Muslims can eat pork because they consider pigs to be unclean. Another example is that many people of India generally do not consume beef because many devout Hindus believe the cow is a sacred animal. Buddhism's encouragement of adopting vegetarianism also limits what devout Buddhists can eat. These practices and beliefs encourage what is not eaten in society but also what can be eaten. For instance, the Buddhists have a history of preparing and eating tofu to satisfy their dietary requirements for protein.
There is also the role of the state when it comes to these issues sometimes dictating how meals should be prepared.
An example of this would be that of edicts of Ashoka who declared that many animals shall be given decent treatment and limited the numbers that could be consumed.
[Chakravarti, Monmohan (1906). "Animals in the inscriptions of Piyadasi". ''Memoirs of the Asiatic Society of Bengal''. 1 (17): 361–374.] Ashoka was a very devout Buddhist and that affected his policies.
Cultural exchange
This trading from non-local regions, also means, almost by necessity, that there was much cultural exchange between different groups to get these goods.
[Ley, Willy (December 1965). "The Healthfull Aromatick Herbe". For Your Information. ''Galaxy Science Fiction''. pp. 88–98.] The Columbian Exchange introduced many ingredients and styles to the new world and Europe starting with the expansion of the Iberian Empires.
The new world introduced to Europeans tomatoes, potatoes, chocolate, and much more.
Another example would be interactions with the Islamic world, which impacted Catholic cuisine in the 1100s.
These interactions introduced many spices, the theory of the culinary cosmos, and cooking items such as North African pottery.
These trades were facilitated by rich merchant states that traded with them, the most notable being Venice.
Food
''Gourmet'' may describe a class of restaurant,
cuisine
A cuisine is a style of cooking characterized by distinctive ingredients, techniques and dishes, and usually associated with a specific culture or geographic region. Regional food preparation techniques, customs, and ingredients combine to ...
, meal or ingredient of high quality, of special presentation, or high sophistication. In the United States, a 1980s gourmet food movement evolved from a long-term division between elitist (or "gourmet") tastes and a populist aversion to fancy foods. Gourmet is an industry classification for high-quality premium foods in the United States. In the 2000s, there has been an accelerating increase in the American gourmet market, due in part to rising income, globalization of taste, and health and nutrition concerns. Individual food and beverage categories, such as coffee, are often divided between a standard and a "gourmet" sub-market.
Gourmet pursuits
Certain events such as
wine tasting
Wine tasting is the sensory examination and evaluation of wine. While the practice of wine tasting is as ancient as its production, a more formalized methodology has slowly become established from the 14th century onward. Modern, professional w ...
s cater to people who consider themselves gourmets and
foodie
A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. The related terms "gastronome" and "gourmet" define roughly the same thing, i.e. a person who enjoys food for pleas ...
s. Television programs (such as those on the
Food Network
Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...
) and publications such as ''
Gourmet
Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...
'' magazine often serve gourmets with
food column
A food column is a type of newspaper column dealing with food. It may be focused on recipes, health trends, or improving efficiency. It is generally geared towards gourmets or "foodies". Since 1994, food writers have also written columns and blog ...
s and features. Gourmet tourism is a niche industry catering to people who travel to food or wine tastings, restaurants, or food and wine production regions for leisure.
Related concepts
''
Foodie
A foodie is a person who has an ardent or refined interest in food, and who eats food not only out of hunger but also as a hobby. The related terms "gastronome" and "gourmet" define roughly the same thing, i.e. a person who enjoys food for pleas ...
'' is often used by the media as a conversational
synonym
A synonym is a word, morpheme, or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word, morpheme, or phrase in a given language. For example, in the English language, the words ''begin'', ''start'', ''commence'', and ''initiate'' are all ...
for ''gourmet'', although it is a different concept (that of a food aficionado). The word ''foodie'' was coined synchronously by
Gael Greene
Gael Greene (December 22, 1933 – November 1, 2022) was an American restaurant critic, author, and novelist. She became '' New York'' magazine's restaurant critic in fall 1968, at a time when most New Yorkers were unsophisticated about food and ...
in the magazine ''
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
'' and by
Paul Levy and Ann Barr, co-authors of ''The Official Foodie Handbook'' (1984).
See also
*
Delicatessen
Traditionally, a delicatessen or deli is a retail establishment that sells a selection of fine, exotic, or foreign prepared foods. Delicatessen originated in Germany (original: ) during the 18th century and spread to the United States in the m ...
*
Fooding
Fooding is a brand of a restaurant guide and gastronomic events that was founded in 2000. A contraction of the words "food" and "feeling", the Fooding aims (in the words of Frédéric Mitterrand) to "defend a less-intimidating gastronomy for thos ...
– a restaurant guide
*
Gastronomy
Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...
*
Michelin Guide
The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...
– a restaurant guide
*
Specialty foods
A specialty food is a food that is typically considered as a "unique and high-value food item made in small quantities from high-quality ingredients". Consumers typically pay higher prices for specialty foods, and may perceive them as having variou ...
References
External links
Luxury food brands
*
{{Authority control
Food and drink appreciation
Culinary arts
Gastronomy by type