apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Sea Salt. I am hooked. I have two wooden salt cellars that I keep handy for cooking. No more table salt for me!

Cheese! I grew up in a house where Kraft singles and Velveeta were the primary "cheeses" that we ate. Avoiding those items may just be a matter of good taste rather than snobbery, however, real cheese, please!

I'm snobby in a general sense - no artifical stuff or "short cuts". I'm big on organic, local, elbow-grease kind of cooking.
I lived in China last year, and had a hankering for ravioli. I was at a loss for recipes. I read many online that said "one package of frozen ravioli, one jar of sauce" - that's not a recipe!
So I made it from scratch:
Pasta from eggs & flour
Ricotta cheese from milk & lemon juice
Sauce from tomatoes
It was so satisfying to do a good job.
I guess that's how I'm a food snob...

I won't eat any kind of pre-packaged sushi from the grocery store even if it's a california roll. I especially don't like those party platter kinds.

Chocolate.

With halloween a distant memory, I've come to realize just how blah the name brand candy bars are. Hersheys, Reese's, Snickers, etc. I need QUALITY chocolate. Lindt 75% dark is one of my favorites. Even the dark hersheys brand has that distinct hershey's flavor i just dont like anymore.

Bread. I used to live in the Bay Area, and was spoiled rotten with Acme Bread, homemade breads and pizza dough, and goodies from the Cheese Board in Berkeley. Now that I'm in SoCal, great bread is a little harder to find. I've found that many of the hip restaurants here source their bread from LA.

If bread isn't organic, chewy, filled with nooks and crannies (if it's French bread or ciabatta) and searingly fresh, I don't want it.

Right now I'm resorting to various rustic rolls bought from Whole Foods. They're all right, and Whole Foods is very close by, so I can get fresh bread anytime. I might bake some loaves this weekend, though. I'm jonesing for some brioche.

Since being introduced to Rancho Gordo, I've become a bean snob. No more cans for me!

Yogurt. I make a quart of plain, full fat yogurt every week and it has a rich, light, silky texture that bears no resemblance to the gloppy, pectin-infused storebought yogurt (even the organic kind). You can buy "homemade" style yogurt at health food stores, but why buy when you can make it for a fraction of the price?

I would love to give this away as a gift to a friend of mine who has introduced me to food snobbery. He used to be a chef (does one ever stop being a chef?) and was the first person to prepare paella from scratch for me. After very diplomatically correcting me on not concentrating on the "ll's" in paella it is a constant treat to get invited to his house to taste and pronounce some exotic food he got on some trip. If you give me this copy I promise to interject culinary nomenclature into the conversation at least 6 times before giving him this as a gift. Plus he's turning 50 in a few weeks so this will make a great gift!

This is more of a recently discovered snobbery: the quality of service in a restaurant. Living in a place with a well-respected culinary scene taught me to appreciate helpful but unobtrusive waiters , staff who are knowledgeable about the wine list and can make recommendations based on the type of food ordered, prompt service and removal of used plates and utensils, and good pacing for multi-course meals. I must admit that since moving, I sometimes snob-out at the quality of service at our local eateries. The bf and I recently made the two-hour trek to the nearest big city to have dinner. I was so happy to be back in a a truly nice restaurant that he practically had to peel me off my chair and drag me home!

To be fair, I did the obligatory waitress stint in college and, being a rather clumsy, dreamy person prone to forgetting details, I was mediocre at best! Thus, I am pretty forgiving. And I can certainly enjoy a good hole-in-the-wall place where things like decor and service are barely afterthoughts so long as the food is good. But I still value small details, like having utensils so that I can eat sans fingers, not having to explicitly instruct, then remind the waiter to bring the soup out before the main course, food that is hot, having everything we ordered actually brought to the table. Doesn't seem like too much to ask, but apparently it often is!

No more milk chocolate for me.

More generally, the less processed and overpackaged a product is, the more I'm likely to allow it in my kitchen.

Unless it's Pop Tarts - some things you just can't substitute.

ethnic food snob. specific to east asian food.

I've had korean and japanese food in their speciality areas within the countries,
and i only really like homemade kimchee, in the restuarants where they go out to the back and pull it out of a big earthen jar
-even koreatown seems bland in comparison. Maybe its something in the air.
I also don't like americanized chinese or japanese food. So much sugar it taste like candy!

Maple syrup. The thought of topping my big thick slice of homemade french toast with maple "flavored" syrup make me want to cry. I demand the real stuff!

Hands down, it has to be fruit. Not so much the preference for specific varieties, as it is for the ripeness. Nothing mealy or mushy for me. I prefer it slightly under-ripe with a nice tartness and crispness, holding exception for some melons and most berries.
It's crazy, I know, I've been told, but I really won't settle for it any other way!

This above all, i refuse to eat at a salad bar. i will not line up to a trough to make my own salad.

After indulging in many simple, rustic, and delicious pizza pies in Italy, I have become a pizza snob. I don't care much for the overload of toppings.

And definately chocolate. My chocolates must be dark, at least 60%, and preferably organic. Green & Black is a fave.

I won't touch boxed frozen meals for lunch, or anytime, for that matter. My job stresses me out so I rather not "top it off" by suffering through a flavorless frozen meal. Especially since eating a homemade lunch is my fave. part of the workday.

I'm not so much snobby, but particular about trying to eat produce in season from Farmer's Market. Luckily we have a good one where I live, so if I see white asparagus in Feb., I know it's fresh. It's so exciting to anticipate the first pomegranates, or see Seckle pears one week and then gone the next...some of the most special things really don't last that long!

When I need shiitake mushrooms, I only use the dried ones imported from Japan. I think they taste the best, even better than fresh shiitakes.

sweet corn. if it isn't from a farm stand in the morning with the dew still on it, i'm not eating it.

I'm not a snob but....

If they are serving red tortilla chips, or better yet, red and green tortilla chips, be afraid, be very afraid. Why? Why do they do that?

I'm OCD how can I pick just one!? I think I'll go with using only unsalted butter for baking and only certain brands will do.

I'm picky about not buying anything with High Fructose Corn Syrup in it. Any company who puts that in its products doesn't care about you.

I will only use fresh-cracked pepper. After experiencing it for the first time, I knew I'd never go back.

I am obsessed with coconut oil (I literally buy buckets of it)..I use the oil for everything to sauteing veggies or exchange it for eggs..you have to like coconut because your food will have a hint of coconut flavoring depending on how much you use..it is also very healthly!

coarse sea salt

There are many food-specific things that I am snobby about, but I am truly snobby about where I shop for any food item. I don't care for giant grocery stores with a warehouse feel, even if they do sell some things cheaper than at my local co-op (although, I don't notice that much of a difference). The smaller the store the better! I love specialty shops and enjoy picking out a few important items rather than filling a cart to the brim. Local veggies, in season fruit, and unusual treats keep me coming back and snubbing the normal grocery stores!

I used to live in Ann Arbor Michigan where I could visit Zingerman's on a weekly basis - one of the few things I miss from that part of the world.

In case you don't believe me,

http://www.cateringinthecity.com/chips.jpg

Yuck!!! I can just picture them squirting Red # whatever into the corn slurry.

art,
While I can't say for sure that commercial red and blue corn tortilla chips don't owe their hue to food coloring, there are actually varieties of red and blue corn. I'd always assumed that red and blue corn chips were simply made from red and blue corn...

Bagels. I grew up in New Jersey and now live in Northern Virginia. If it hasn't been boiled before baking and have a crispy crust with a spongy interior, it's just a roll with a hole in it.

I also don't cotton to sweet bagel flavors beyond cinnamon-raisin. No blueberry, banana nut, chocolate or maple bagels for me. Salt, onion, garlic, sesame, poppy, plain, pumpernickle, and everything are the proper bagel flavors.

Einstein's should be burned to the ground.

I'm a salt and pepper snob. What else is more universal in food seasoning? Don't they always say use the best ingredients, the most seasonal and freshest things, and all they typically need is a bit of salt and pepper to make them fabulous? I love kosher salt, sea salt, hawaiian red salt, grey salt a la napa style... the list goes on. As for pepper, it has to be freshly ground, i love it all as well. Black peppercorns from India, pink ones used whole on salads, or white pepper in good chinese food, delish!

Eggs. In this day and age, where hormones are synthetic and genetically altered; food is doused with pesticides and irradiated; animals are kept penned in disgusting conditions; and food comes from places where I could not afford to travel myself-- one pure, lovely, affordable indulgence for good protein is a carton of eggs from a reputable local farmer who lets chickens forage.

There is nothing like a fresh egg whose yolk is firm and high, colored a deep yellow or orange. The flavor is amazing, especially when served simply fried in olive oil with salt and pepper.

J, you are right about that.

There are some home brands of purple/blue and naturally red chips.

But the ones that you get when you go out are definitely not these kind.

Sorry. It's just a little peeve of mine. I guess it's a barometer for what else is to come. Kind of like getting shit coffee at the end of meal. If I had the coffee at the beginning, I probably would have stopped there.

Copper River Salmon. Is it not the pinnacle??? (sigh...)

Maple Syrup.

It's not enough for it to be 100% pure or a particular grade. I have a few particular New York State farms whose pure maple syrup satisfies my palate.