unfoodie
by aaron david
I am not a food person. I do not think about food other than when hungry. I know that I am an outsider because of this and while it makes me a little sad that I cannot join in this love, it is like trying to worship god when one is an atheist. As I read these posts for the symposium, my general reaction is, why? So, in that vein, here are the thoughts and feeling that I do have regarding food and eating.
- My wife often jokes that if I could just have a pill that provided all nutrition, I would be perfectly happy.
- I break food up into 4 categories: food, subfood, nonfood, unfood.
- My father was a professor of Pomology. Hence I rarely eat fruit or nuts.
- From personal experience, McDonalds is better than Chez Panisse. The food is just as tasty, and the service is miles better.
- It’s not that I can’t cook, I was a cook at a decent little Italian restaurant when in college, I just have no interest in it.
- A subfood is something that can be made into food, as long as I don’t have to taste the original flavor.
- I am not a picky eater. If you ask me to try something, I will try it, tell you whether I like it or not and move on. As long as it is not an unfood.
- My wife is very much a foodie. Sometimes this creates difficulties.
- Unfood means that not only is it not edible, it cannot be removed from dishes. It ruins the whole dish.
- I don’t drink wine or tea, as I don’t like how they feel on my teeth. The tannins, you know.
- Tomatoes are a subfood. Can be made into sauce, but the taste by themselves? Nasty.
- I do like salads, because they are easy to make and I can get lots of vegetables into me. I usually crack open a can of tuna on the top for some protein, plenty of dressing and away we go.
- Nonfoods are things that must be picked out. They won’t ruin the dish by themselves, but you don’t want to eat them.
- I am a fairly small man, but I prefer quantity over quality. There is nothing worse that leaving a restaurant hungry.
- Umami is a false god.
- Walnuts are a nonfood. In salads, pasta, whatever, I politely put it onto my fork and leave it on the side of my plate.
- Alton Brown has deepened all of these feelings. He has even made me look at my motorcycle funny.
- I like really dark coffee, but Folgers will do. I won’t drink instant though, as I do have standards. Well, unless there is nothing else around.
- How many cookbooks does this world need? I am all for free speech, but think of the trees.
- I do like beer. I like tasty beer even, but when I go to a bar I usually just ask for a Bud. I know that they will have it, I know what it will taste like and I am pretty sure that I will enjoy it. Also, I won’t get full from just one beer, as that is kinda sad.
- Eggplant is an unfood. Ruins everything it touches. Doesn’t even look healthy. Bleech.
- I do much of the cooking for my wife and I, as my schedule allows it better than hers does.. My food is usually edible as I do know how to cook. However, the kitchen is her space, and I have very little say in what is where, especially spices. My wife grows many of the herbs, knows them by smell and rarely labels the containers. Or they have an old label on them. This adds hilarity.
- Potatoes are a vegetable. Sorting starches out does not amuse me.
- I have never really had a sweet tooth. Instead, a meat tooth.
- Of course I can grill, but the microwave works just as well.
- As my wife is a foodie, we often go to nice restaurants with interesting foods and sometimes to shacks with interesting foods. I tend to like the shacks, as no one seems to be trying to impress me with food fascism.
- Why would anyone want to eat things that are crunchy? Seems either overcooked (toast) or it makes a mess.
- One of the things that mystifies me is the concept of not being able to eat a lot of a dish because it is too “rich.”
- Did I mention that Alton Brown is the devil?
- Seriously, a whole store devoted to spices? There is a rack of them down at the grocery store, why do you need a whole store?
- I positively refuse to go to any restaurant where I am going to have to cook. Korean BBQ? Fondue? No. I go to restaurants to eat, not so they can laugh at silly Americans who will pay to cook.
- Along the same lines, super fussy food, that I need to do this and that and order a thousand things and you need 4 diff… No. Just stop, eat your food, and move on. This isn’t kindergarten.
- Mac and Cheese is an unfood. Seriously, yech!
- There is no restaurant so good that I would wait more than 15 minutes for a table. Waiting for a reservation is one thing, but at a place that doesn’t take reservations I am not waiting. Period.
- My general response when asked if I am hungry is to say “no, I just ate.” Whether I ate or not.
- When I was a child, my parents took me to a BBQ at a friend’s house. These people made the burgers with raisons in them. When I bit into what had been a trusted food source and found this anomaly, I spit it out, and started crying. My trust in other people’s favorite foods is no longer in existence. Generally at this point I will be polite and eat what is put in front of me, but this is not something I look forward to.
I could probably go on for hours, but you probably get the gist of what I am saying. Or, you don’t, and you are one of the normal people, who enjoy this part of life.
To each their own I suppose. That said you don’t seem to be an anti-foodie so much as a foodie with your own specific tastes and preferences.Report
I’m not a foodie, but I have opinions on the subject. Until those pills come out, we do have to eat, and each person has his own tastes. It’s more about not being messed with. Sometimes food messes with you. I’m pretty much a “simplify life” kind of person – not the kind who puts in a huge effort into not putting in an effort, though. I’m not going to drive around for two hours searching for the most authentic bread. Actually, my ideal meal is one you can eat at the stoplights while you’re driving somewhere you want to be. I was joking with a friend once who was going through the hassle of planning holiday visits with his and his wife’s families. I told him that I’d spend a few hours of Thanksgiving at each family’s house, and save time by grabbing some fast food on the way. Life is just easier when you don’t have to think about food.Report
Huh.
You and I are very different people.
Oh, well. Different strokes for different folks.Report
Agreed on the first part. Definitely disagree with the second. If I make a reservation, then I expect to be sitting down at that time.Report
I read that somewhat differently, I think – as in, forty minutes at home when the reservation is in an hour and it only takes twenty minutes to walk to the restaurant is fine, forty minutes in a drafty entrance alcove at the restaurant is not.Report
Interesting article. As a hardcore foodie who has a dear friend who is much more in line with your approach to food (right down to the “I’d take a pill three times a day if it meant I didn’t have to eat” part), I was considering a piece written from the opposite perspective (which I may still try to get at). Regardless, thanks for sharing your perspective. For a long time, I was of the mindset that people like yourself simply hadn’t truly experienced food and once you did, you’d come around. Thankfully, I’ve moved beyond this particular brand of egocentrism.
However, beyond enjoying food as much as I do, I also think that food — eating — is an experience. It is not simply about sustenance. It is ideally a social experience. It is a sensory experience. Food brings people together. I’m wondering if you feel any of this even while feeling very differently than I about the food itself.Report
@kazzy
As a non-foodie, I feel nothing about eating being an experience. At this point, given other areas of focus, food is sustenance and something I’ll use to fuel workouts. The number of foods I consume as part of my regular diet is quite small and I have no problem eating the same things day in and day out.
It may or may not be normal but that doesn’t concern me one way or the other.Report
@dave
Thanks for your perspective. I care not what is normal. If your approach works for you, I say good on you!
There are times where my approach to eating is similar to yours… highly practical, borderline utilitarian.
I guess when I talk about “eating” being an experience, I’m talking about much more than just the consumption of food. The friend I mentioned — she has a very limited comfort zone with food. But I greatly enjoy her company. And I’d rather eat at a so-so place that is amenable to her and which she will join me at that one of my favorite places on my own. I suppose I’m talking about a more abstract idea of “meal times” than I am just talking about “eating”.
Do you have any of that? Do you enjoy gathering around the table with loved ones? Do you see food as a way of bringing people together, connecting us, and allowing us to learn about others? Or would you never sit down at a dinner table again if you didn’t have to?
Again, no judgement is meant by these questions. I am genuinely trying to understand a perspective that is vastly different than my own. Cheers.Report
@kazzy
I guess when I talk about “eating” being an experience, I’m talking about much more than just the consumption of food. The friend I mentioned — she has a very limited comfort zone with food. But I greatly enjoy her company. And I’d rather eat at a so-so place that is amenable to her and which she will join me at that one of my favorite places on my own. I suppose I’m talking about a more abstract idea of “meal times” than I am just talking about “eating”.
Based on the way you put that, if I was in the shoes of your friend, I would not have the limited comfort zone she has and would have no problem at all going to any kind of place and trying anything. I wouldn’t be turned off about conversation about food even if it interested you more than me. I’d be happy to listen despite a likely inability to be able to make meaningful contributions to a conversation due to my lack of knowledge.
Do you enjoy gathering around the table with loved ones? Do you see food as a way of bringing people together, connecting us, and allowing us to learn about others? Or would you never sit down at a dinner table again if you didn’t have to?
I think my perspective on this is colored by the fact that I have an autistic son and to the extent there are large gatherings at holidays, I’m usually not around the table anyway because he won’t spend a lot of time at the table. There were a lot of people at my family’s Thanksgiving dinner a year ago and it didn’t go very well.
However, this year, it was my immediate family and my mother and I did look forward to that very much. Tomorrow night, I’m meeting with a group of friends that all have special needs kids and I know that there’s going to be plenty of food and drink and talking about our related issues.
I do see it the way you see it. I just don’t have the same connection to it.
One other thing – I work in NYC and by the time I get home at night, everyone has already eaten so the idea of a family dinner during the week is a non-starter. It’s not much easier on weekends.
I hope this helps explain things.Report
@dave
Absolutely. As you indicate, context matters immensely. I come from an Italian family. So the idea of family dinners… the role of the kitchen table and the stovetop in our family culture… is different than for many other people. To this day, I’m not particularly close with my mom, but when we do connect, it is almost always with me sitting at the kitchen table while she cooks over the stove. Just how we are.
You have a very different context, particularly now with your son. It is understandable that your response to meals-as-social-gatherings will be quite different as a result.
With regards to my friend and her comfort zone, I should probably stop conflating her general feelings on food with that particular aspect of her relationship with food. There is probably some correlation between the development of one’s palate and one’s relationship with food but it is probably not the direct, linear relationship I default to assuming it is. That probably harkens back to my prior mentality of “You just don’t like food because you don’t know how to.” She and I have actually stretched each other. She recently tried Thai food for the first time with me and I am much less of a food snob because life is too short to be a snob to people you care about.
Jeez, it’s like I’m growing up or something.
By the way, I didn’t realize you were in NYC. But from the sounds of it, I’m assuming you commute in from LI, NJ, or parts north? I life in Orange County, grew up in Bergen County, and frequent the city fairly regularly.Report
I live in Union County, NJ and I don’t think I’m more than 30 minutes or so from Mark Thompson. We’ve coblogged since 2007 and still never met LOL.
With me, it’s all about the context – both life context and my personal goals with respect to health.
I may be an “unfoodie” to some degree but certainly not an anti-foodie. That said, if I’m with friends in certain parts of Colorado, I’d be one freaking them out by eating Rocky Mountain Oysters. 😀Report
Would love to talk with you more — or read more of your writing — about your workout and nutrition stuff. I’ve gone through various phases with regards to working out and exercise and have been fortunately blessed with a body that is highly responsive (e.g., I can lose 30 pounds in four months if I train for it or pack up 10 pounds of muscle in a month if I train for that) which means I haven’t had to do a ton of education on the subjects. But as I move steadily towards my mid-30s, I imagine that will change and I’ll need to be more purposeful about the whole thing.Report
@kazzy
Would love to talk with you more — or read more of your writing — about your workout and nutrition stuff.
I’m working on that.
By the way, 10 lbs of lean body mass in a month is an astronomically high number. Bodybuilders would kill for that.Report
It’s probably not pure lean muscle mass. But I can enter the gym on the first of the month, work hard all month, eat right, and walk out at the end of the month ten pounds heavier and in noticeably better shape.
I do drink a ton of water — especially when working out — so I’m sure some of the weight gain is just additional water weight. But I’m fortunate enough to get results in small windows of time that others can’t get at all. The only issue is that I don’t build muscle proportionally. If I do one set of back exercises, my back explodes. My arms are similar, such that I’ve ceased doing isolated arm workouts because I think disproportionately giant bi’s/tri’s is not a look I like. Meanwhile, my chest is much slower to respond (relatively speaking) and it took me *years* of squats to shed my scrawny legs.Report
@kazzy What kind of compound lifts do you do? How do you feel about, say, weighted pull-ups?Report
@robert-greer
I have a pretty simple routine:
Chest- incline/decline bench, incline/decline fly
Shoulders- press, upright row; front/side raises
Legs- squats, calf raises, hip ab/adductor
Back- T-bar, lat pulldown, lying overhead pulldown
Mix in lots of core and cardio (usually running). Almost everything is done with free weights. I’ve tried more complicated approaches but given that I’m now in “maintain” mode no reason to mess with what’s working.Report
Considering that you live in North Jersey and work in NYC, it is ironic that you aren’t a foodie.
Seriously, you probably aren’t all that far from Harold’s and the Rutgers Grease Trucks. Both make my mouth water just thinking about them. I am hankering for a hot pastrami sandwich. [Homer Simpson drooling sound].Report
Kazzy,
be a bit careful about upramping your metabolism. it can leech calcium from your bones if you aren’t careful.
… and yes, I too am jealous.Report
Look at the contents of your cabinets and refrigerator. That’s what you’re going to be eating. Stick it all in a blender, boil it, bottle it, freeze it, and you’re good for months.Report
Note: Do not blend, boil, bottle, or eat the contents of the cabinets containing your dishes. Or glasses, for that matter.Report
Food is one of the great pleasures of the world. If you were to give me the option of living to 82 and enjoying good food or living ti 109 on Soylent. I will pick living to 82.Report
The attitude towards described in this article is completely foreign to me. For me, good food is a deeply enjoyable experience, concurrent with and inextricably intertwined with life itself. If I could not look forward to another good meal, that would represent significant decline in my anticipated quality of life.
Good for you that you have found meaning and pleasure and happiness in other directions. I doubt I could walk your path.Report
The hardest part, Burt, is my wife is in the same boat as you.Report
I’m not particularly a foodie, but I’m absolutely not a boozie. These days, I’m often around people who drink expensive spirits and are generous about sharing them, so I’ve come to appreciate what quite good Scotch tastes like: alcohol. This is also what middling and cheap Scotch tastes like. Likewise, bourbon, rum, rye, vodka, etc. Gin is somewhat an exception, tasting like pine needles soaked in alcohol.Report
There’s such a thing as good vodka? My bourbon sensibilities can’t fathom such a thing.Report
There is, objectively speaking, vodka that costs an arm and a leg. Good is in the palate of the beguzzler.Report
In the Reaping, you’re getting in line right behind Aaron.Report
Try a Troegenator, tastes like dark, fizzy, alcoholic bread.Report
The only flaw in your meal-in-a-pill plan is that it doesn’t fill you up. Perhaps if you combined them with some appetite suppressants.
I agree that tomatoes are subfood, rather than food per se.Report
•Mac and Cheese is an unfood. Seriously, yech!
You are dead to meReport
This OP was way more amusing and insightful than I expected. So I read the whole thread.
More unexpected, I think I maybe better understand the impetus behind that weird Soylentthing.
I feel genuine sorrow for unfoodies. The good news, I suppose, is maybe y’all aren’t likely to die from health complications from crappy diets. So there is that.Report
I’m right there with you on food fussiness. No reason for it to be so except to make people feel important.
Personally, there are food fads I hate, hate, HATE. Especially when it comes to spices or other fad-ish ingredients. I have a pretty sensitive palate and enough experience with seasonings that I can guess pretty accurately what is in a given dish. A little seasoning goes a long way with me, so I have to avoid a lot of trendy places that make a habit of over-doing it with the latest fad spice or herb.
Like overusing thyme, or marjoram, or this persistent craze to add cracked pepper to every frikken thing (peppered bacon is a great way to waste bacon, stop doing that!).Report
add cracked pepper to every frikken thing (peppered bacon is a great way to waste bacon, stop doing that!
Wait, what? Peppered bacon is the way to go. Black pepper isn’t exactly a food fad.Report
@glyph
No, but putting on enough that my bacon appears to be covered in a black batter is just nuts. Pepper is an intensely strong flavor, a little dab will do ya, unless you’ve been using so much you’ve acclimated to it.Report
Hmmm. I may use too much, I do like it (red pepper too).Report
Our tastes acclimate pretty readily, and if the strength of a flavor is why we consume X, we can get used to that flavor & then seek higher concentrations in order to get that perceived strength.
Of course, we can likewise abstain from a flavor for a while & lose that acclimation. I’m like that with sugar/sweet. It’s why I try to limit how much I take, because I can acclimate to sweet easily & find myself adding more & more sugar. So I limit it, so the flavor isn’t allowed to acclimate.
Garlic, on the other hand – I’m pure poison to vampires.Report