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I am both. But my Grandma, who attempted to rise again with the closing of Gourmet, was a cook. In fact, I don't seem to remember her eating - ever. She cooked the really tough dishes too -- her collection of NY Times cookbooks and Gourmet library. I don't think she would have liked the Gourmet of late -- but as an eater, I certainly did!

I'm both to a point. I like to eat, of course, especially my own creations or at a restaurant that I've read about. But when it comes down to it, I'd much rather read about something I can make, as opposed to a restaurant across the country that I'll never go to.

What you wrote here gave me pause...because I too have never consciously separated the two. I suppose it is because, to me, you have to be able to appreciate food to be a good cook. The heady aromas, the tastes, the textures, the warmth of a spicy curry, the solace of forking in a warm bit of baked potato with just a bit of sour cream into your mouth, these things surely must colour how you actually cook the ingredients to provide this outcome.
I know there are people out there who can turn out perfect dishes without tasting them, but to me that is like creating beautiful art without stepping back to appreciate it...such a waste of a beautiful dimension to your work!

Hmm... I guess that commentator would be me.

Let me explain it a little my point a little more... Under Ruth Reichl, the magazine very much developed a restaurant culture -- chefs had prominent starring roles, and you got the sense that she couldn't stop being a restaurant reviewer.

If you lived in an area outside of the major centres on the coasts, you felt left out of the party...

The recipes began to call for increasingly obscure and hard to find ingredients, and became geared to a different kind of cook.

It just started feeling more and more elitist, and a couple of times it reminded me of episodes of Fraser, like the time when Niles was referring to his Italian shoes ("Aren't they exquisite? Those shoes were individually handmade by an artisan toiling in a hilltop village above Florence. The man is a hero there. It's an event when he completes a pair of shoes. They ring the cathedral bell and the whole town celebrates.").

At a certain point, I began to feel alienated and left out by the magazine, and it seems I was not alone... The balance was off between being a cook interested in the history, culture, aesthetics and politics of food (no one can touch Gourmet in that respect, and its demise leaves a gaping hole there), and being a foodie who wanted to get into the next hot restaurant or food trend before anyone else did...

Despite my misgivings about Gourmet's latest incarnation, I still believe that it is a travesty that Condé Nast has ceased publication. Gourmet belongs in the American culinary firmament next to James Beard and Julia Child, and still has much to offer.

cooking and eating are completely different things for some people. Think about it this way: I am in my 20s and live in a major metropolitan city. Everyone I know loves to go out to eat at little ethnic restaurants, high-end restaurants where the chef has a tv special, the newest trendiest places to be seen eating etc. Can any of my friends cook anything other than ramen? Very few can cook or have any interest in cooking. It simply doesn't fit their lifestyle. But they love reading restaurant reviews, they love talking about where the food is from, how it is cooked and who cooked it. They just don't love cooking.

I am one of the few people I know who eats something at a restaurant and thinks "how can I make this at home?" So I think it is relevant to define if Gourmet is a cooking magazine or a food magazine. I agree with the poster who said Gourmet is about eating and not cooking. When I first started cooking on my own, I bought both magazines for a while and ended up getting a subscription to BA because it had more recipes I could try. If I wanted restaurant info, there is chowhound and the newspapers. If I wanted to know about food industry, there are always blogs and Mark Bittman. Gourmet doesn't really fit those needs in a way that propels me to buy the magazine.

When you are taught to cook food from another culture, the world is brought to your doorstep, the culture is made accessible, and you become an active part of it; when you read about a restaurant or region and someone else's cooking that you will likely never have the means or opportunity to sample, the world is pushed away.

The former brings people together and makes people cosmopolitan; the latter, is becomes a bore.

I am definitely a cooker over an eater.

If i have to cook for someone else, i will go all out and make a crazy meal and whatnot, but if its for me, ill just put together a sandwich.

I often end up making things just for the fun of making it, and its sits in my fridge for days, untouched.

Several weeks ago Michael Pollan had an extensive article in the New York Times Magazine about what he called "The End of Cooking". It was a good article about how the Food Network is all about eating and consuming and not so much about cooking.

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A lot of times, I tend to eat a very hasty, put together meal when I come home and then make elaborate dishes, bake bread, etc... for several hours for later.

What a great post with many thoughtful comments (including the orginal that provided the inspiration). I'd have to say I'm a little of both and it always depends on my mood. I love to feed myself and my family with food I cook at home; I know of no other way to show someone I care for them than with something prepared in my kitchen. However, I also love to eat and because of that, it makes me a better cook.

Man, wouldn't you just love to be one of the guys in the eating shows walking around in these exotic places with the camera hanging on your every "mmmmm?" I have dedicated my life to becoming one of those guys. You can see my attempts on my website.

That said, not enough cooking shows teach you how to cook. Most of them just give recipes.

This was a wonderful post, and the comments have been just as interesting and fun to read. Posts like this make me wish I knew some of you folks in real life-- I think that mschatelaine would be fun to share a meal with.

That Michael Pollan article was quite good -- I'll second gab18480 in recommending it.

I actually like the tour food shows, like Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations. It really helps me plan out my vacations. I wouldn't have gotten to eat at Apizza Scholls in Portland was it not for his Pacific NW episode. I love to learn about another culture's food, their practices, etc. It's part of why I love food, both to eat it and cook it. So I guess I'm both. Though I get so nervous about cooking for anyone other than my partner. I know what we like but since my family are picky eaters, I walk around with a bleeding heart in their kitchen.