Food Snobs R Us

I long ago resigned myself to being a food snob. And then I became a wine snob.

And I thought, is it so bad to be a snob?

Being a snob certainly has negative connotations. Snobs are aloof, catty, critical, superior, condescending, mean.

But I like to think of myself as discriminating, in a good way. Why eat Wonder Bread when you can eat a fresh baguette? Why drink Two Buck Chuck when you can drink a reasonably priced Malbec from Argentina? It's part of the whole life-is-too-short philosophy. I'm not going to eat junk full of artificial this that and the other when I can buy foods that have been carefully prepared from thoughtfully sourced ingredients.

One of the things I love about Whole Foods is that, unless you have allergies, you don't need to read the labels on the packages. You know that whatever is in the box, bag, can, or jar is not going to be loaded with high fructose corn syrup, pretend sugar, FD&C Red #40, and unpronounceable words that belong in a chemistry book.

Now granted, I love to cook and I grew up in a household where eating home cooked meals together was the rule and never the exception. I definitely had good role models in my parents who greatly influenced my outlook on food.

But I think I really became a food snob by dining out often with my husband when we lived in Boston. What a fabulous food town! We belonged to a group that ate at a different ethnic restaurant every month, and we usually went out two or three times a week on our own. Eating food in an excellent restaurant prepared by a (formally or informally) trained chef is the way to really train your palate. Once you're used to delicious, you can't go back to OK.