It is a truth universally acknowledged that food is lovely. There are different gradations of loveliness, for sure, but, in general, eating is widely regarded as one of life’s greatest pleasures. But how do you know if you’ve crossed the line from your garden variety appreciator of great grub into certified foodie territory? The seven signs below show that you’ve successfully made the transition.
1. How You Approach Holidays
Your non-foodie is likely to book a vacation without giving much thought to the restaurants in the vicinity. That’s not to say that this person isn’t going to enjoy visiting them when they’ve arrived, but eating will play a very minor role in the planning. However, your committed foodie is going to be booking the holiday very much with eateries in mind. Accommodation may be narrowed down and selected based on the proximity of a Michelin Starred restaurant.
If you’re at the very pinnacle of foodie-dom, you may even base your choice of country to visit on culinary opportunities. For example, Copenhagen suddenly becomes top of your must-see list. When your partner asks why you’ve developed a sudden burning desire to travel to Scandinavia, you try very hard to keep the word ‘Noma’ out of the conversation.
2. Food Shopping
If you’re a foodie, grocery shopping isn’t a chore: it’s a pleasurable recreation activity. You find yourself saving certain supermarket aisles ‘til last because they’re the most enjoyable; the World Food aisle may hold a particular appeal. When family members start point blank refusing to accompany you to the store anymore, you’ve graduated.
3. Visiting Restaurants
Going out of your way to visit as many different restaurants as possible, to try as many different types of cuisines as are out there, is another sure sign that you’re a foodie. The true foodie won’t be satisfied sticking to a single favorite establishment. They want to sample as many meals, and as many gastronomic styles, as possible.
If you’re the sort of person who enters a restaurant, takes in the ambiance, the decor, the style of the restaurant chairs and tables, carefully assesses the menu in terms of design as well as dishes on offer and is liable to ask for a tour of the kitchens after the meal, then you’re a fully-fledged foodie. You’re going to be extremely open-minded when it comes to meal choice, too, and are likely to never order the same thing from a menu twice, and challenging offerings (such as something raw. Or insect-ish) is unlikely to put you off; indeed, you’ll relish the opportunity to try something new.
4. Your Kitchen
We all love a gadget, but if you’re a foodie, you’re going to have equipment in your kitchen that your friends and family will struggle to identify. We’re talking shredder claws and shrimp deveiners. You may well not even own a microwave. By choice.
The foodie’s kitchen will reflect their love of cooking and their respect for and knowledge of all the ingredients that they use. Saucepans and knife sets will be of the highest quality, and there will be herbs and spices in their cupboards that only three other people in the world know about. A foodie will have lots of different types of oils, too – and the presence of truffle oil is a sure sign that you’re dealing with a Grade A foodie.
5. Food Photography
We’ve all been guilty of posting some snaps to our social media with particularly appetizing dishes that either we’ve surprised ourselves by making or had served to us in a restaurant. But if you’re a foodie, then you’re going to be taking this to the next level. Your pictures aren’t going to exist just to prove that you really could eat a ‘Bob’s Bad Boy’ burger with fries AND onion rings, or to show that, on one occasion, you produced a pasta sauce that didn’t look like snot. The photos that you capture are designed to display the beauty and cohesion of a dish; the way
that the colors work together to beautiful effect; the balance and harmony evident on the plate.
6. Choice of Magazine
If you’re out with a foodie, they’re going to be drawn to a food magazine like Heston Blumental to road-kill. When you’re at their house, you’re likely to see not just a pile of food magazines, but a lot of cuttings featuring recipes or pictures of meals stuck on the fridge or littering every available surface. Try to remember: it’s not their fault.
7. How You Plan Your Day
Suspect foodie-ism if, upon waking, you immediately begin considering not just what you’ll have for breakfast but what you’ll prepare for all the other meals and snacks throughout your day. If you’re not eating food, you’re thinking about eating food.
You’re likely to make mealtimes a thing of beauty. A ‘quick bite’ will still involve something being peeled or wilted and served on beautiful crockery. You adore arranging dinner parties and, when you say you don’t need any help in the kitchen, it’s because you genuinely would feel a sense of loss if you weren’t able to enjoy every single aspect of the prep.
In short, if you’re a foodie, then preparing and enjoying food is an essential component of your personality, and your entire lifestyle will reflect this. If you happen to live with or know a foodie, then the best advice you can be given is to embrace this aspect of your friend or loved one’s nature. And, whatever you do, don’t even think about rearranging the spice cupboard.
