Gourmet/Gourmand

The French have a word for people like me: gourmand.

We discussed it in class one day at the U of L. When I learned it, the prof told us that it had a very negative connotation attached to it. The way I learned it, a gourmet is someone who likes the very fine things in life. Caviar, expensive wines, fine dining, etc. are the domain of the gourmet. The gourmand, by contrast, is a glutton, eating anything and everything, without discrimination.

Or so I thought.

One afternoon Bronwyn and I were in a cafe for lunch. I ordered the special of the day, which included a salad, main course, and desert for one low price. As I ordered, the waitress remarked that I was quite a gourmand, and walked away to place our order. I was a little miffed, but let it slide.

A few weeks later, we had dinner guests over. One of them ate a lot, and quite quickly. Mathilde mentioned that he was a gourmand. To me, that reinforced the negative connotation that I had come to associate with the word. The waitress' comment from the other week chewed at me a bit.

This past week at school I stopped at the bakery quickly before class to buy something for breakfast. I had woken up late and had to skip breakfast to get to school on time. At the break, my prof walked up to me and asked what I was eating. I told her (brioche praline, totally sublime), and she asked me if I was a gourmand. I was cranky, so I told her I supposed I was. I wasn't impressed.

Brioche praline. Heaven.
The pralines in this delightful creation are the same ones that I found in Lyon.

So I asked another prof later what the meaning of the term was. She told me that here it's a kind of endearing thing, and that it means that you're kind of adventurous when it comes to food in that you'll try anything. There's no negative meaning attached to it whatsoever. I explained what my prof back home had told me, and she laughed and said no, that's not the case at all.

Waitress, wherever you are, I'm sorry I was mad at you for no good reason. I wish I had tipped more.

À bientôt!