Eatdrink #43 September/October 2013

№ 43 | September/October 2013 www.eatdrink.ca 9
order. The woman says she’d like to know
more about the chicken. “The chicken is a
heritage breed, woodland-raised chicken
that’s been fed a diet of sheep’s milk, soy
and hazelnuts,” the waitress states. “This
is local?” the man asks,
leaning attentively
on his hand. “Yes,”
the waitress replies.
“Oregon organic, or
Portland organic?” the
woman asks. “It’s just
all-across-the-board
organic,” the waitress
answers. The waitress
leaves for a moment, and then returns
with a file. “His name was Colin,” she
says. “Here are his papers.” The questions
get more intense and exhaustive, to the
point that the waitress says, “I can’t speak
to that level of intimate knowledge.” The
diners then excuse themselves, promising
to return but first they need to see where
he was raised and lived, before they eat
“Colin.” Although this satirical sketch
mocks foodies, as consumers we should be
aware of where our food is being sourced.
In my experience, those characterized by
the French term goinfre (greedy guts) suffer
a ravenous disposition. They are hard
to stomach due to their selfish, insatiable
appetites. Gluttony is often an emotional
escape, a sign that
something is eating
you. Gluttons indulge
their voracious appetites
indiscriminately
and over-consume to
the point of waste.
Gourmand is an
all-encompassing
term for acolytes who
take great pleasure in good food but who
are routinely unacquainted with etiquette.
They lack the skills of proper refinement
while being over-fond of eating.
At the next level, we find the epicure.
This term has had a renaissance but is still
sometimes used to lampoon those devoted
to the pleasures of the table. The Oxford
Companion of Food says the term “derived
from the Greek philosopher Epicurus, who
declared happiness to be the highest good,
which came to mean, in a food and wine
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