It happened just the other day. My wife and I were enjoying a pleasant evening conversation on our balcony, going over our respective days, as most couples do if the opportunity presents itself. (And if the baby will let you!) In the midst of all of this idle chatter, I mentioned something about this blog and in response I was greeted with a statement that nearly knocked me off my chair.
After I’d made whatever comment it was (and I honestly don’t remember, it was all very innocent), my wife looked at me with those incredible blue-green eyes of hers and a slight smirk and said:
“One of my students mentioned your blog today.”
She had my attention, It’s always nice to know someone’s talking about what you’re doing.
“Oh?”
I said, with every attempt at not trying like the devil to make her speak a bit more quickly. (she’s Texan, I’m a native Californian, she talks a lot slower than I’m used to)
“Yes, but I’m not sure I should say any more.”
She said in that tone she gets that lets me know that she is definitely going to say more, but I’m gonna’ have to ask to hear it, and I’m probably not gonna’ like it much.
“You started this, so dish.”
I said, most likely with a smirk, though I’m not really sure at this point.
And with a theatrically perfect “I’m really sorry I’m the one who has to break this to you” attitude, she looked over at me and said:
“He said he’d like your blog a lot more if you weren’t such a food snob.”
Ouch!
Me, a food snob! How in the world could someone ever in a million years think such a thing? I’m the guy who’s more than willing to post multiple ways to jazz up ramen! The first post on this blog was for a ragout made with Lil’ Smokies® sausages, for cryin’ out loud! And let’s not forget all of the “really high class” stuff like fried potatoes and pinto beans with bacon!
She let me go on for a while before she set a beer on the table next to me, shook her head and walked away. Apparently she felt that I needed to think this through, so I sat by myself for a time (precisely the time it took to finish that beer, as a matter of fact), going over the contents of this blog in my mind, then I walked in and looked over the entries I’ve left here from the beginning.
It didn’t look good.
I sat at my desk for about an hour browsing through the titles and topics I’d covered since I fired this beastie up in January. At the start, it was just what the title suggested it was. The recipes posted were pretty much just a journal of what I’d made for lunch or dinner, with no plan and no direction other than my usual “Hey, wouldn’t it be good if!” mentality in the kitchen. The steps used for each dish was detailed and I took the time to point out the little things that made something interesting to me, for whatever reason that it was.
As time went on things started to change. For one, most of the entries started sounding terse. Gone were the commentaries and asides that defined the very heart and soul of why I started out as a food blogger. Instead of taking a moment to explain a fine dice, I simply started typing “diced finely.” Instead of walking through some of the “simpler” methods, I’d gone to an experienced cook’s shorthand.
I’d forgotten the people I wanted to reach in the first place, and I’d forgotten myself.
Worse than that, it had begun carrying over into my daily cooking habits. It’s not that I didn’t (or don’t) still mix up something out of a box and jazz it up with my own additions, but I started slipping those dishes under the table, so to speak. These are the side dishes that are in photos of the dinners I’ve made, but are never mentioned. They are the unsung heroes of the meal, and I’ve been doing them no justice by ignoring them. I liked them before I started blogging, and I still do. I’d started taking myself far too seriously.
My wife noticed, she just didn’t know how to tell me.
She noticed when I started turning my nose up at anything in a box. She noticed when I tried to recreate the flavors of some of those, sometimes making dinner very, very late. She noticed as our food bill started growing massive because of the sheer amount of supporting spices and flavorings that some of these dishes require.
She noticed, but I didn’t, and I should have, because I was becoming a P.I.T.A. (For those who don’t know what that is, just Google it, I try to stay kid friendly around here.)
“Hi. My name is Jerry, and I’m a recovering food snob.”
I doubt there’s a twelve step program for it, but admitting that you have a problem is the first step in correcting it, and correct it I will.
My wife and I have discussed where we wanted this blog to go, and over the next few weeks you’ll start seeing those changes implemented. Oh sure, I’m still going to toss in a few over the top recipes here and there, but I’m going to shift my focus back to the things that I truly love, and most of those involve a challenge of my own personal skills, hopefully with a lesson or two on the method I chose to get to the end result, because in the end, my cooking has always been more about the method than it’s ever been about the recipe.
I’ll be donning my programmer’s hat and digging through the plugins used to get everything up to snuff, and at times I’ll be asking for guidance from my very esteemed fellow bloggers on some issues that have been brought to my attention. All-in-all, I think it’s for the best.
Before I end this first edition of what is slated as a regular recurring series here, I want to issue a challenge to the unnamed person who started all of this.
It seems it was also mentioned that I constantly use ingredients that aren’t found in a common pantry. I’m not sure about that, since everyone’s pantry is different, and in my case, it’s taken two years for me to acquire some of the ingredients that I use. They were bought because I wanted to try something different, and they’ve stayed there. Some are now staples, and others get used when I notice that they’re about to expire, and I abhor wasting money, so I revisit them before they are wasted.
So the challenge is this… Your mission, should you choose to accept it:
Send me an email with the contents of “your” pantry, and I’ll make something incredible out of it.
I’ll never mention your name, and I’m not talking down at you or your skills in any way. You’ve helped me spot an issue, and I’m thankful for that. It’s because of your comment that I’ve set out to put things back on track, and short of having you for dinner (which, as my wife’s student, I can’t do), it’s the closest I can come to making you a great meal in appreciation.
But I’m still gonna be a bread, wine, salami and coffee snob… Some things are just part of a person’s makeup.
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Category : Food Snob Chronicles
Devil’s advocate here….but one of the most interesting things about blogging, especially about food blogging, is that it almost forces you to be a better or at least more well-rounded and more knowledgeable cook, and that is not a bad thing. I started my blog because I wanted to learn (and share) more about those very pantry ingredients that we all stockpile, often without thinking about it (found a great recipe that called for this or that….saw something on the store shelf that had a pretty label….whatever). My pantry contains both the esoteric and the mundane — who doesn’t keep a jar of mayo in the fridge? If you look for more interesting ways to cook with what you’ve got, that doesn’t make you a food snob. If you look for the best ingredients — but are willing to work with whatever you have or can find at the local grocery store — that doesn’t make you a food snob, either. But if you lose your sense of humor and begin to take it all too seriously….well….
I’m not the one to whom your directive was issued….but if you do decide to make a regular feature out of the “tell me the contents of your pantry and I’ll tell you what to do to make it fabulous” idea, I’d like to reserve a spot in line now, if I may :) I am a serial purchaser of things I really don’t need but, for whatever reason, think I need to have in my pantry, and then they stay there. Forever, or until I can unload them on someone else, or until they expire, whichever comes first.
Lydia,
That was the problem in a nutshell. I started taking myself too seriously, and I stopped thinking to myself.. “You know, some people won’t know how to..(insert method here)…” I’m working on changing that.
Jess,
I’m about to send you an email, but you’re currently first in line, and yep, I was planning on making it a regular event.
Anyone who thinks you’re a food snob doesn’t know what a real food snob is. It annoys the heck out of me that just caring about what goes in your mouth labels someone a snob. Yes, I would rather have things homemade and from scratch. That’s how my grandmother cooked, and she had an 8th grade education. The level of what passes for cooking in the country has sunk so low, if you don’t cook from a box that makes you a snob? Good grief.
Elise,
To say I’m honored to see your name here would be a fantastic understatement!
I believe that the person’s problem hinged more on the fact that I’d begun abbreviating entries with regards to techniques, rather than stepping through them in as much detail as possible. It’s something I’ll be making sure to do in the future. It’s easy to forget sometimes that others may not know what a chiffenade is, or that a béchamel is simply another name for white sauce. After spending years as a professional line cook and amateur gourmet, I sometimes forget that there was a time in my life when I couldn’t sharpen my own knives, let alone properly braise something, and the aim here is to provide those tools to people who don’t know them yet, as well as giving out good recipes for those who do.
I truly hope I see you around in the future!
Ooh, I want to do this pantry thing!
Some of my food snobbery is born of having so many food allergies, but a lot of it is just plain persnicketiness about quality. My parents claim my first word was “ew!”
Also, I totally agree with Elise.
dew,
you’re welcome to be the second on the list, Jess is already slated for the first of the month. I’ll either be doing another one on the 15th or on the first of next month.
I understand food allergies, my wife has several, and I’ve got to be careful with what I serve her, it can be intimidating.