Master of Good Taste

CEBU, Philippines - There’s always a person with a taste so refined that others can’t help being tempted to imitate his or her choice of things. It’s easy for copycats to mimic the sense of style of a true-blood fashion expert. What’s difficult to fake is the sophisticated tasteof a gourmet.

The word “gourmet” is a French word originally referring to a wine broker employed by a wine dealer to ascertain the quality of his stock. The meaning of the word, however, has since evolved to cover other, although still related, concepts. It is now used commonly to describe a person as having a special taste for food and drinks that usually entail a refined, even elaborate, process from the preparation to presentation.

A gourmet is a person known for his or her discriminating palate, a keen sensitivity to taste that springs from a wide knowledge in the craft and art of food and food preparation. A  gourmet chef is one  of particularly high caliber of cooking talent and skill, with special attention to aesthetics as one of many considerations in the putting together of several contrasting, often quite rich courses.

Strictly, while the meaning of “gourmet” now extends to embrace other things in the entire culinary and dining experience, it is not supposed to be interchanged with “gourmand,” because a gourmand may just be a person who simply enjoys food in great quantities. The  epicure, on the other hand, while quite similar to a gourmet, is a person whose penchant for refinement may reach excessive levels.

The word “foodie,” is often used by the media as a conversational synonym for “gourmet”, although it is a different concept – simply that of a food aficionado. “Foodie” was coined by Gael Greene in the “New York” magazine  and by Paul Levy and Ann Barr in their book “The Official Foodie Handbook.”

A food columnist in the newspaper or magazine is often a gourmet. The Freeman Lifestyle’s Dr. Nestor Alonzo, who runs the “Cooking with Character” column every Tuesday (but presently on leave) is a good example. Among restaurants, there’s a certain class called gourmet restaurants. The categorization suggests that in these dining places the cuisine, the food ingredients, and the meals are of high quality, of special presentation, or high sophistication.

The items labeled “gourmet food” in supermarkets, for their part, avow of high quality, with high standards observed in their processing and packaging. Gourmet is now an industry classification for premium foods and even beverages. It is becoming common nowadays to see cafes and other such places offering so-called gourmet coffees and teas.

The particular preference for gourmet food may still look elitist to many, but increased incomes coupled with the increasingly easy movement of goods worldwide and the influence of media advertising is likely to change people’s tastes. In fact, it is already happening. The growing public consciousness on health and nutrition is another significant factor.

The word “gourmet” may continue to expand in meaning, to include other areas of the human experience.  Yet, for sure, it will remain to stand for high quality and refinement.

Gardenia chocolate tapioca sandwich

Try making your own Gardenia Chocolate Tapioca Sandwich, one of the sandwich recipes created by the grand winner of Gardenia’s Next Big Sandwich Hit, an inter-school sandwich-making and business generation competition conducted recently among top universities in Metro Manila.

Here’s how to make the simple-but-yummy, Japanese-inspired Gardenia sandwich:

Ingredients:

2 slices Gardenia High Fiber Wheat

Raisin Loaf           2 tbsp chocolate spread

1/4 cup cooked tapioca

1/4 cup strawberry syrup

3 tbsp cream cheese

1 slice honey dew, peeled

Procedure:

For red tapioca: Combine tapioca and strawberry syrup in a small pan. Boil for a few minutes until tapioca turns red in color. Cool the mixture and set aside.

For the sandwich: Using a small cookie cutter, slice the bread in circle. Spread the cream cheese on top of the bread and cover with another rounded bread. Spread the chocolate all over the sandwich. Roll the peeled honey dew on the outer part of the sandwich. Serve.

More recipes and bread treats are found at www.gardenia.com.ph or on Facebook.com/gardeniaph.