Culinary Bedpost Notching

[Bux]

. . . being members of a "culinary arts society" probably seems risible to most folks . . .

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We are the court jesters of the "semi-upper middle class." "Fool" is the other word they use.

[ghostrider]

I love traveling, & I love food, but I have never planned a trip around food in 35 years. I've rarely made a dinner reservation anywhere, so maybe I'm semi-semi upper middle class.

I'm interested in landscapes and townscapes and archaeological sites. Once I decide where I want to go, I'll do some research into restaurants and carry a list in case they fit into my schedule when I get there.

The nice thing about traveling in Europe, particularly Italy, is that there's generally some really great food just around the corner from almost anywhere if you have a bit of an eye and a nose for it.

I usually rely on serendipity, and my instincts which have been honed by experience, and I'm rarely disappointed.

[ghostrider]

. . . being members of a "culinary arts society" probably seems risible to most folks . . .

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We are the court jesters of the "semi-upper middle class." "Fool" is the other word they use.

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Following the "jester" definition of "fool" in the American Heritage Dictionary is:

"One who subverts convention or orthodoxy or varies from social conformity in order to reveal spiritual or moral truth: a holy fool."

Dare we add gastronomic truth to the mix?

[MaxH]

... The whole notion of all of us being members of a "culinary arts society" probably seems risible to most folks, especially those who've never experienced culinary artistry and even many of those who have but upon whom it has been lost.

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I don't know, Fat Guy -- I am no veteran of this forum so it may be out of place to say this, though I have participated in Internet food forums for some time (22 years or so) and known a few people in various states and countries whom most folks here would likely consider to have experienced culinary artistry and even sought it out, and I have sensed some range of personal reactions to the particular language of "culinary arts society." I'm sure you've considered that. I assume that membership among the lost or the philistines is not a requirement for differing on language or brand names. I mention this because the lines above stress the specific label, rather than the spirit that I take to be behind it.

-- MaxH

Edited January 5, 2005 by MaxH (log)

[robyn]

To the average semi-upper middle class international tourist, food is neither art nor art-like. The whole notion of all of us being members of a "culinary arts society" probably seems risible to most folks..

That's a new one on me. What's a semi-upper middle class international tourist?

By the way - I thought my husband was the only person in the world who uses the word risible . Robyn

[Carolyn Tillie]

Others take exhaustive notes on every dish or request a copy of the menu. And some resort to the crass technique of snapping photographs of every plate.

A guess there are a lot crass folks here on the Gullet...