What's a food snob?

Sanctimonious people who insist that only the best ingredients will do and if you don’t then you’ll just put anything in your mouth. Or your dogs mouth

People like Martha White are food snobs. I decided to actually pay attention to her one time, rather than judging by my fleeting impressions. She was going to make French Toast, and I thought; “Oh, well that’s ok then.” She then proceed to say that the only possible correct bread to use for French Toast was Brioche. Really? I turned her off. Apparently my impressions were correct.
A food snob is pretentious, and oblivious to the idea that the greater percentage of the population is bored to tears by their airs. They truly believe that they are better than others who don’t have their resources. They’ll also be among the first to die in the bloody aftermath of the apocalypse. Or as Douglas Adams would have it; “The first against the wall when the revolution comes.”

Someone that ‘will not eat rotten fish that is cooked outside over a stinking fire’.

I was cooking with mesquite, and the rotten fish was caught that day.

Martha Stewart is another good example of a food snob.

A food snob is someone who thinks only people who eat the way they do is worthy of consideration regarding food. They fail to take into consideration individual tastes or ability to taste, for that matter. I recall not renewing a subscription to Gourmet magazine when a critic said a particular dish in a restaurant needed “just a little more oregano.” I knew I’d never have taste buds that exacting.” And it wasn’t important to me.

GAAAHHHHH!! I meant Martha Stewart!

Wonder if Ole Martha did anything to improve the chow at the “girls school” she was a student of a few years back?

People who turn up their noses at good food because they care more for where they get their food and its reputation rather than the taste.

I actually don’t like the term. I think people can be as picky about their food as they want. But, I think a lot of people use the term regarding people who will only eat food from specific farms, or from specific grocers or in certain restaurants. Like I remember once my BIL was all bent out of shape when his boyfriend’s brother and his wife asked a waiter if the salmon on the menu was wild caught or farmed. In a restaurant I would not care, I would eat either, but when I buy food for my home I do care about things like that. Anyway, my BIL would call them food snobs I think, or maybe he was just worried about being embarrassed in the restaurant, not sure.

I don’t think of Martha Stewart as a food snob. She likes fresh ingredients and is a good chef.

Me. lol

Good food is extremely important to me. It doesn’t have to be a pricey gourmet meal at the best restaurant, but, I really, really, LOVE eating well and I spare no expense on my hedonistic cravings. I want the best fresh veggies, produce, cuts of fish and meat.
I don;t think truly in-joying great food makes anyone a snob. I am very unpretentious but don’t feed me crap. haha

As a matter of fact I just got in from the grocery store and 3 of my pricey, organic tomatoes have moldy ends…not acceptable, I will ask for tomato compensation next visit. :-P

Someone who figures if you are going to eat, it might as well be the good stuff. If you are going to take in some extra calories, it might as well be top shelf.
In my case, if I am going to eat red meat, something I do once or twice a year, it might as well be a filet.
Same with drink. I don’t drink much and I almost never drink spirits. But if I do, it is going to be really good Scotch.

Here’s to hedonism! :-)

@josie I agree, once a year or so I buy the best T-bone steak I can find, grill it with Shitake mushrooms and red wine…oh man, just kill me with the goodness!

@Coloma Exactly!

Food snob definition.

That’s a nice link @Trillian.

For me, actions speak louder than words. Drop a self-proclaimed food snob down in the middle of a desert for a week or more with no food provisions. If they are willing to survive on the resources at hand, then it is just all talk. If they refuse to seek out and consume what their body needs to stay alive, then yes, they are a true food snob.

@Pied_Pfeffer It’s all a matter of opportunity and abundance, if I was stuck in the desert you better believe I’d be eating cactus and tortoises. Preferably cooked Tortoise.
Scorpions and tarantulas might be right up there with consuming human flesh, if I HAD to perhaps, or, perhaps I’d just sink into some delightful mirage and expire. lol

Oh shit..I just thought about having to drink my own urine..well…one never knows til they’re faced with the desperate. haha

I always ask whether the salmon is wild or farmed and consider that a health issue rather than a foodie one.

Me as well. But not because I’m so particular about where/how something was raised/caught, but more about my own really specific food peculiarities. I’m an extremely picky eater

@gailcalled Me too, I see it as a health issue, as I do wanting fresh veggies that are pesticide free. Not to mention wanting to support local business by using local growers. That’s why I don’t like the term food snob.

this reminds me of the joke:

How can you tell someone is a vegetarian?

Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.

I see it as someone who believes for whatever reason (their education, their training, their genes) thinks that their tastebuds are superior to other people’s. These people often can’t see any joy or value in inexpensive food, or food that is liked by a lot of people, or food that has simple ingredients (or the opposite, have lots of un-natural ingredients). God forbid that anyone should actually enjoy something from Taco bell, or the fair, or a plate of nachos at the ball game. These food snobs usually balk at anything less than constant white glove attention and won’t hesitate to belittle the wait staff or snap their fingers to get attention.

Most of the judges on Chopped strike me as being food snobs. They seem to actually disdain food. They give the contestants (who are obviously good cooks, usually chefs or very experienced home cooks, or caterers or cookbook writers) ridiculous ingredients, that real chefs either would never put together (at least not without trying out the recipe multiple times before perfecting it and presenting it to their guests) like Captain Crunch cereal and raw squid and ranch dressing, then they screech at the chefs as if they must be idiots for presenting them with such a terrible tasting dish. .

On the other hand, Guy Fieri, is the opposite of a food snob. He likes lots of stuff, even weird stuff, even old-fashioned American greasy spoon cuisine and he doesn’t expect white tablecloths and doesn’t participate in cork-sniffing or sending back a steak because it was rare and not medium rare (which is a matter of opinion, not exact science). He also likes Spam sushi and stuff he (and I) have never heard of before. And he praises people for good food, rather than screeching at them and telling them how awful they are.

If a young person was going to culinary school, I’d hate for them to get saddled with teachers like the judges on Chopped. It would be very demoralizing.

The taste of food is very subjective. Some people like lots of things, some people only like a limited amount of things, some people can learn to love new things if they try them enough times, others will never venture out of their comfort zone or cultural zone, some people like spicy food, others don’t. But the point is, the taste and perception of food is subjective, not right or wrong.

That’s why I never refer to myself as a foodie, that word conjers up food snobbery in my mind. I prefer the term food enthusiast.

@Kardamom Well said.

@filmfann I hope you are not suggesting that I am a food snob because I am a vegetarian. I hope you understand that there’s a big difference between being a snob and having dietary needs that may be different from yours. I’m a vegetarian for my own ethical/spiritual reasons, not because I think I am superior to anyone. I don’t and never would try to convince anyone to follow my path. It has to be up to the individual.

Unfortunately I have to let certain people that I might dine with, know that I am a vegetarian so as to avoid discomfort for them and for me. I don’t want to put anyone out and always offer to bring a vegetarian dish if I’m invited to someone’s home.

P.S. Meat eaters don’t need to announce that they are meat eaters, in the U.S., it’s pretty much assumed. So I guess I don’t get your joke.

There is a difference between being a picky eater and a food snob.

The food snob will eat animelles de moutons frites, but would not even think of eating mountain oysters. Even though they are pretty much the same thing aside from the presentation.

I’m not a food snob, but I am a beer geek.

Pheasant.
That’s one stuck up bird right there.

@Kardamom Guy Fieri is my secret crush :)

Another label that has little basis in reality.

@laurenkem I would love to be Guy’s vegetarian side-kick.

Actually I’d like to do what he does only ride around in a great big motorhome, instead of a Corvette, with my best friend in tow. We would cross the country visiting National Parks and finding the best vegetarian food this country has to offer, from diners to farmers markets to food fairs. It would be a nature and food show.

^^^Come to my hometown; you have the food coops; the vegetarian and locavore restaurants and my sister’s garden.

^^ Sounds wonderful!

^^Let us know. I am sure Milo will lend me his chef.

People that have tastebuds that work! :) I don’t really see it as a bad thing.

I don’t know exactly but I do wonder about people that pay extortionate amounts in a restaurant only to receive a teensy weensy portion in the middle of a massive plate. I don’t care how well presented it is, if you paid £50 for that, I’ll probably judge you!!!!