Foodies: Can Vegan Food be Considered Gourmet?

An intriguing brief interaction with Gael Greene on Twitter yesterday left me pondering, once again, the question: Can Vegan Food be Considered Gourmet? I am curious to see what you all think. Can tempeh, mushrooms and dairy-free risotto ever win the hearts of Gael and her utensil-wielding army of Gourmands?

Gourmand-A lover of good food. Someone who is extremely (and often excessively) fond of eating and drinking. A person with discriminating taste in food and wine. source: various online definitions.

You Say Gourmand, I Say Foodie. To me, gourmands, gourmets, foodies and epicures all love the same thing: Good Food. And they are all life-long students devoted to refining their palates and perfecting the art of eating.

Outside their own kitchen, foodies are raptured by the art of the dining experience: the reservation, the seating, the menu, the waiter, the pouring of the wine and water, the summoning of the dessert menu - or the refusing of it - as my foodie friend Jen likes to signal by waving her hand in refusal.

Foodies love to review the specials, refuse the pedestrian offerings, snicker at "Restaurant Week", chatter like they are Tom and Padma at Judges Table, order the Chef's tasting menu or off the menu completely, and give their waiter a thumbs up - or down. Foodies love food, and the rituals that come with it. And in all hopes, the food they eat will be something that inspires them, something they will come to crave and even recommend to fellow foodies.

Foodies are not Hermits. The most distinguishing trait that makes someone a foodie, rather than merely a passionate eater, is a sense of adventure. Foodies are dr....

- Source : http://kblog.lunchboxbunch.com