How many people IRL are "into" food like you?

[foodfiend]

There was a similar thread posted a while ago, but I wanted to bring this up again. I have friends who enjoy food -- some enjoy eating out, while others cook (a smaller percentage). But the number who actually think, read and cook as much food as I do, very few It's simply not a hobby with lots of people.

[Canice]

I remember that thread, but not the exact thrust of it.

I would say that the majority of people I know are very food/ingredient/restaurant focused. People here talk about restaurants and ingredients a lot. Fine dining or the ethnic dive, everyone has an opinion on the restaurant scene. Most people I know either enjoy cooking or wish they could.

After that last thread, I asked DBF what he thought of the observation by Carlo Petrini (founder of Slow Food) that people in San Francisco talk about restaurants the way the Italians talk about soccer.
He (DBF) gets to more fantastic restaurants than I, and is less interested in them than I -- so unfair. But his response to Petrini's observation was "Inarguably. Monday morning, everyone's talking about where they ate on the weekend, and what they had. It's boring."

[cookinprogress]

VERY few! I'd love to meet other people who like to cook as much as I do, but almost everyone I know looks at me like I'm crazy for liking to cook, while I look at them like they're crazy for heating up boxes of processed garbage for dinner every night.

[linsleyd]

Out of our friends where we live now, we have two other couples that enjoy cooking and in the winter months we'll meet once a month with a theme, sort of a small scale supper club.

Our friends where we used to live and will be returning to, are much more into food. We would often get together on weekends and cook interesing things. When we all go camping it's always something interesting from a leg of Elk to other crazy items. And everyone has a cookbook collection, even and the guys who actually are slightly more dedicated to the whole cooking thing!

[SusanMac]

We have a lot of friends into food. Some are into restaurants, while others are into cooking, baking or dinner parties.

I'm also in a cooking club, which offers another pool of foodie friends. Although I think we even have a span of interests w/in cooking club. Some of us are into family cooking, others into ethnic cooking, etc

[tamawrite]

Very few, and none whose lifestyles mesh well enough with mine to get together for foodie activities (mostly my fault, as I live way out in the country and am always busy busy busy with farm work). Even those people I know who appreciate good, healthful food aren't as "extreme" as I am...you know, weirdos like me who go veg and eat millet.

[LakeMartinGal]

Very few here, also... Actually, just one! Most of the people around here are retired, and the ladies have had their fill of planning menues and cooking, so eating out is the norm for most! Not that they can't cook, or don't enjoy food, just tired of it! But, OH! that one gal and I have some great conversations!

[Cookin4Love]

None. The people I know who say they're into cooking are actually just into throwing together cans and boxes and calling it a meal. Kay, I can't wait to retire so that I can cook the more elaborate foods and menus that I just don't have time for now.

[RecipeGirl]

Very few!

I tend to gravitate toward those who like to cook. There are a group of us in our community who enjoy cooking and entertaining, so we formed a gourmet group and meet once a month (with spouses) to wine and dine with a theme. We often vacation together too w/ our families. Fun people.

My other friends just plain don't cook. They're Costco picker-uppers and take out queens. That's ok sometimes, except that most of them don't work and are perfectly capable of putting something together. Bugs me a bit, but then again it's none of my business.

I enjoy hopping on the BB to talk to those w/ cooking on the brain.

[potato_moose]

Fortunately me and DH are both really into food, cooking & restaurants, so we can talk to each other! Why this translates to everyone we know gifting us with bottled BBQ sauces, I will never understand. I have 5 bottles of BBQ sauce in the pantry--all were gifts.

We just have one other friend who likes to cook, and because of our different lifestyles, we only see her once or twice a year.

[sdcook]

My brother and sisters are as into cooking and food as I am. My brother is a chef and my sisters and I love to bake and cook. We're planning my sister's baby shower and the item we're spending the most amount of time on is the food! We had a taste test this weekend with a few options.

My mother is amazed and doesn't know how it happened that we're this way. We say it's because she never was and we had to learn and love it as self-preservation.

[KCSoccer]

VERY few! I'd love to meet other people who like to cook as much as I do, but almost everyone I know looks at me like I'm crazy for liking to cook, while I look at them like they're crazy for heating up boxes of processed garbage for dinner every night.

DITTO! I have one "foodie" friend, but she's moved out of town, so we only see each other once or twice a year. All my other friends think I'm a bit nuts about food (I am ), but they all love to eat at my place!

[Robyn1007]

Well, I have many friends who enjoy good food whether that be from restaurants or my kitchen. I have a few friends, like mcgeiger and her dh, and a few family members who are really into cooking good food. DBF I think really appreciates my cooking and my love of it but definitely does the restaurant thing a lot.

Oddly, for weight loss I was just thinking yesterday that I needed to figure out a way to convince him that we don't need to eat out as much and then he called from Hawaii last night. He got a bit of a shocker when he had to weigh in for a helicopter tour and was about 25 lbs heavier than he thought. I should note that he looks pretty proportional for his height which is 6'6" but nonetheless he stated that he needs to work to take off those pounds and maybe a few more. I'm excited as that will allow me to cook more often and help us both loose some weight.

[MISSINDI]

None. Dinner parties, sure. But actual cooking on a regular basis, hunting down the perfect ingredient or pan? None. Driving half-hour to go to a farmer's market for the fresh produce? None, although I do convince them to come sometimes, last time, my friend came to buy herbs to look pretty in her kitchen - only snips them to give to me. That's why this board and Supper Clubs, etc., are such a great outlet - people who "get" it.

[petitechef]

VERY few! I'd love to meet other people who like to cook as much as I do, but almost everyone I know looks at me like I'm crazy for liking to cook, while I look at them like they're crazy for heating up boxes of processed garbage for dinner every night.

Same here... people are like "it takes to long" and I'm thinking "i cooked up a great meal in half an hour all the time"...but I have to remember that i like to cook so it comes easy for me. alot of people don't like cooking because they think it's complicated or they go for the hard stuff, they get overwhelmed and quit.

none of my friends are good at cooking, but they are good at other things so we barter services and it works out for everyone!

[ttubbs]

None as much as me. I've explained here a few times that this is a hobby for me and that my wife actually does the cooking day in and day out. If I had to do that, I'm don't really know if I'd get as much enjoyment out of it as I do this way. She hates to cook, but I think I've started rubbing off on her just a little. I've at least shown her that you can have both good and easy food. The skillet fillets for example, are a snap for her, especially since I've stated keeping the spice blend in the pantry and the compound butter in the freezer.

I'm a programmer IRL, and in my circle, it is us guys who seem to talk food more than the ladies. We get crap from the ladies sometimes about how we trade recipes.

A couple of my friends have been gardening and canning for a few years, and I started myself this year. I talk gardening and canning with them, but that is about as far as they go foodie wise.

I have another friend I raised some meat chickens with this spring. We both have a freezer full of that now. He also has a trapper license, and made a deal with a farmer to trade sweet corn for trapping raccoons. Us gardeners have traded him some of our garden stuffs for peaches-n-cream corn. He claims he'll start gardening with the rest of us next year.

However, none of them are into it like me. I say that because I am the only one who subscribes to food magazines (I now get 5, but really on read CL). I'm also the only one who's taken any cooking classes - basic and intermediate foods at culinary school. Within the last year I took all the Wilton cake classes offered at our local Micheal's Art's and Craft's store. I was the only guy in all 5 of the classes I took, but our instructor said she has had a few others over the years.

I think I'd really like to get into a supper club, but my wife has no desire. I also would feel rather odd as being the only guy in the kitchen, and my wife would feel odd about the only lady in the 'chatting spouses' category. I still think that would be really fun though.

Still, I think I draw the line earlier than some (most?) of you guys do:

I do have a cookbook collection, but it fits on the two shelves in one cabinet. I tend to collect reference type books with recipes, and not just recipe collections. For example, my text books, How to Cook Everything, Joy, Fish & Shellfish, etc. I have on celebrity chef book - Graham Kerr - only because it was a gift. I think it sounds as if many of you have a wide, if not unlimited, interest in cookbook anything.

I also have not named my mixer. I've mentioned to some of the folks I work with about this practice, and they have threatened to start calling me Nancy if they find out I've named mine. If I wanted to name it, the threat of getting a new name wouldn't stop me, I just don't want to.

I do find that the more I read, hang out here, and experience the finer things (ingredients, equipment, restaurant environments, whatever food related), the more discriminating I am becoming. Right now there are just a few things I'm a real stickler for, but the trend is being more so. While I'm not there yet, and will probably always be behind the curve to some degree, I, too, feel the draw to the food snob side.

[DmOrtega]

I know, maybe, a handful of people that really enjoying cooking and take the time to be creative. I have had a desire to try cooking different kinds of foods since my early 20's. I haven't slowed down, in fact I am cooking more and more.

With all the talk about the dangers of eating processed foods, I'm seeing the need to be cooking at home instead of opening a can or popping a frozen meal into the microwave. Unfortunately, people are busy and feel they don't have the energy or time to cook good food. This is not true. Too bad because their health is being sacrificed for the sake of convienence.

My kids are also getting ongoing training in cooking and nutrition that I never got growing up. Their freinds are surprised at how much they know about what they are eating.

[stacy7272]

There are very few others like me around here that I know of. I have a good friend that's into baking like I am into cooking so we can chat about that stuff (I love to bake too). She is very experienced and was professional for a short time so I can actually get tips from her. She doesn't cook a darn thing though.

DS's teacher, who teaches one class made up of grades 1-5 so he'll have her for all 5 years (yeah!), is a bit of a foodie. I gave her Cooking Light as a birthday gift. We discuss foodie books (she's actually read some) and recipes and stuff. She's actually made stuff out of CL so we talk about those recipes. She asks for advice - like once she was going up to her mom's house and wanted to make lots of meals that she could freeze for her. I gave her all the recipes from an article CL had on freezing and she made every one!

But that's it. I still ask people about where they shop what they make for dinner, etc. I just can't help myself. I find shopping and dinner habits very interesting.

[Farhana]

None. Dinner parties, sure. But actual cooking on a regular basis, hunting down the perfect ingredient or pan? None. Driving half-hour to go to a farmer's market for the fresh produce? None, although I do convince them to come sometimes, last time, my friend came to buy herbs to look pretty in her kitchen - only snips them to give to me. That's why this board and Supper Clubs, etc., are such a great outlet - people who "get" it.

Same here . Some of them even find it shocking that I actually enjoy cooking!

[dcollier]

We know less than a handfull of people who cook like us. My DH and I moved from Dallas, Texas, 9 years ago to a very remote part of Arkansas. That's probably when we started getting serious about cooking -- out of desperation! In Dallas, the restaurant choices were truly unbelievable, but here they're non-existent! It's been life-changing, as we now prefer our own cooking to 99% of the restaurants we frequent when we go on our quarterly trips to cities to shop. I'm sure living where we live has a lot to do with it, but I have friends in Dallas and Tampa and Richmond who do not remotely cook like my DH and I do. I also know that the Food Network, Cooking Light magazine, these boards, etc., have all contributed to how we now cook.

[springsgourmet9]

Most of our friends are not into food as much as I. One of my three sisters really appreciates good food and loves coming to dinner. I don't think anything of travelling for a food ingredient on a Saturday morning or "lunch hour" if I need something for a dish. I love going to cooking classes and reading articles to learn about food, restaurants, etc. My briefcase always has the latest food magazine of the month.

It helps being an "empty nester" because I have the time now to enjoy cooking whereas when my children were growing up, it was definitely more of a chore than hobby.

Our supper club really clicks because we often discuss food among other topics and we're very adventurous eaters.

[Angelsfan]

Luckily my very best friend loves food as much as I do. We share recipes, cookbooks, and cook together quite often. It is so nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of. We are in our 20's (I am barely holding on, she has a few years left) and I feel like most of our friends just aren't quite grounded enough to enjoy their time in the kitchen. If it were up to our husbands we would order pizza and watch football every night. The guys don't realize how good they have it !

-Heather

[foodfiend]

If so few people actually treat food as a hobby, who are all the people watching the Food Network or buying gourmet cookbooks? Or foodie books like Under the Tuscan Sun? Curious.
I found someone at work a while ago who enjoyed food as much I did, and man, was it a blast to chat with her! I even gave her some old CL's because she never heard of it! (unfortunately we no longer work together). Then I recently met someone who is a gourmet chef. Unfortunately we haven't been able to chat a lot, but I wanted to ask him tons of questions: what spices do you use (ex. Penzey's brand)? Have you been to XYZ gelato shop yet? What's your favorite brand of chocolate to bake with? It was like being with a movie star for only 5 minutes, and wanting to make the most of it.

[jadenegro]

None! I will give a shout out to my old roomate from college who is Vietnamese and who occasionally throws together a knock out dinner. That's more of a dinner party thing, but yummy!

You know you are really alone when things like this happen - I'm in the kitchen at work getting coffee and someone walks in and asks if I can give her an opinion - do I think frozen peas cooked with butter should be refrigerated? They were for her daughter's dinner and she was asking this at 9am. So, not really any foodies at work either!

[saserre]

Not very many. I wish I could find more.

When I mentioned the idea of a Supper Club around some friends, one was like - "I love to make green bean casserole, that would be so much fun!" I had to steer her away from that idea, saying that we'll try lots of new homemade items, new dishes from different places, name dropped CL and Penzey's, and then the glazed look came over her face and she realized it's just not for her - whew!

My best friend wants me to teach her to cook, so at least she recognizes that I know what I'm doing. My goal is to give her 10 signature dishes she can cook for dates to impress them, and then we'll add on from there. First dish planned: crepes.

My Mom doesn't know where I get it from - I credit y'all, by the way - since she's a meat and potatoes kind of cook. There's always some little Foodie thing I chuckle about when she's visiting - from not know what pine nuts are to asking if she can use regular vinegar instead of balsamic in a recipe.

Sharon

[testkitchen45]

None. The people I know who say they're into cooking are actually just into throwing together cans and boxes and calling it a meal.

So true! I started one of those other threads on this subject awhile back b/c I'm so grateful for all of you wonderful cooks on this BB. I really do feel like I'm swimming upstream most of the time, knowing virtually no cooks IRL. You'd think SAHMs would be foodies, for the most part, b/c while we're incomprehensively busy all day, we are, at least, home, theoretically with more time to feed our families creatively--but the SAHMs I know are much more likely to make a high-fat casserole or p/u pizza or something from Sam's.

(((((BB foodies)))))

[veschke]

If so few people actually treat food as a hobby, who are all the people watching the Food Network or buying gourmet cookbooks?

Voyeurs, possibly. I have a Cordon Bleu cookbook on dessert decorating (a gift, I should add, from someone who obviously thinks I'm way more ambitious than I am), which I will almost certainly never use, but it's nice to look at.

IRL I know several people who are way more into food than I am, and others who seem impressed with what I do even when I think it's pretty mediocre. I don't think of *myself* as a foodie; my standards aren't high enough.

[stacy7272]

If so few people actually treat food as a hobby, who are all the people watching the Food Network or buying gourmet cookbooks? Or foodie books like Under the Tuscan Sun? Curious.

I wonder the same thing. When I have to wait 4 months on a waiting list for one of the 35 copies of Animal, Vegetable, Miracle from my library I wonder who all these people are and where are they? But I think a lot of it is what veschke mentions, people who may like the idea of food but don't actually cook. Maybe they are restaurant goers who know and care about what's on their plates.

I'm always surprised when people tell my they watch the Food Network. That's why we don't have many "cooking" shows on there anymore, because more "non-foodies" watch it. I mean, my brother (!) watches Iron Chef for goodness sakes as does one of DH's coworkers - both of whom probably haven't set food in a kitchen or grocery store in years.

People are often very surprised that I cook every night - and a new recipe to boot. I think they are more impressed when they find out about my cooking than they would be if I told them I was a neurosurgeon or something. Like cooking food at home is more unattainable than becoming a brain surgeon.

[barbara-cook]

I don't know too many people who are "into" food like my husband and I are either. So I am wondering - if no on has the time or the inclination to cook, why don't they sell houses with minimalist kitchens? Or new houses with "kitchen optional"? Of course I'm kidding. But I have a really badly set up kitchen (which is promised to be redone in the next few years) and I just know that if I had a better set up, I'd be more inclined to go all out more often than I do now. But I still manage to put together pretty darn good meals at least 4 or 5 nights a week!

So - if you have a gormet kitchen - do you really use it, or is it just there to look pretty for parties?

[helene]

We had a great group of 'foodies' before we move. One guy was a Chef, one guy was a wine-cheese connoisseur and a girl I was working with loved food as much as me.

So we were 4 couples meeting about 4 times a year for 6 courses meals. It was great.

So since I moved, in August, I haven't found anyone in food like me. I hope I will find a new circle of friends that share my passion.