Food snobs don’t bother me too much, it’s the fakers I detest. I waitress on week-ends. There’s a common preconception that true wine lovers prefer dry wines. What sucks(and it happens more often these days) is when someone claims they like dry wine because they think it makes them cool, but in reality, and with a little extra questioning, I realize they want something that tastes like a white zin. OK people, it’s hard enough to verbally describe wine flavor with anything approaching precision, please don’t make it even harder for me to get you a wine that will satisfy you. I really don’t care! I’m not going to hawk a lugy in your food if you say you like sweet wine.
I work at a coffee shop, so I am witness to drink snobbery on a daily basis. For the most part its fine, but there can be some real jerks.
There’s this guy who always brags about how he gets “man coffee,” which is just straight black from the drip. If he’s waiting in line he openly disapproves of the other costumer’s mochas and vanilla lattes, calling them “wussy lady drinks.”
I don’t care if he doesn’t like the fancy stuff, but that doesn’t give him the right to ridicule the people who do to their faces. Luckily he’s only a semi-regular.
I’m not sure whether that’s a misconception or not. Most true wine lovers and sommoliers that I know tend to prefer drier to sweeter wines. There are exceptions of course. I personally find that dry wine tends to marry better with most food flavors. The only time I drink sweet wine is when I drink dessert wine (like a Tokaji or some Eiswein).
The wine perception I’ve noticed is that some think blushes/roses are bad wines. They most certainly are not. Roses, while not as complex and “shorter” (not long lasting in flavor) than most whites or reds are an excellent class of wines in their own right. They are the perfect picnic quaffing wine. Something you can really enjoy and savor on a hot summer’s day. Even in other settings, I see no shame in ordering a rose.
What I am looking for is an explanation that I could discuss or a position I could see myself holding, so I do need it in a language I am comfortable with, namely science. Moral decisions are too subjective and personal to expect them to apply to everyone, but science is universal.
Getting… defensive…
Eyes… Glazing… Over…
Just kidding. This is just a great example of why I don’t ask vegetarians why they don’t eat meat. I’ve alread heard these arguments (and read Fast Food Nation) and I’m sure that anyone with even a passing interest in eating habits has also. So assume that I have a moderate level of intelligence, and don’t insult it.
Read my posts again. I never suggested that food choices have nothing to do with morality. Every major monotheistic religion has dietary restrictions, and this whole thread is dedicated to people who feel morally superior to others based on what they eat.
What I did say was that I never hear about morality from omnivores (at least in regards to food), but I do from the herbivores. If I ask them. Which I don’t.
Of course that’s true, but only because omnivore is considered the default option in our culture, and thus omnivores generally feel no need to elucidate the moral underpinnings of their diet.
Yes yes, some of my best friends are vegetarians and all that ;). Actually, my boyfriend and his mom are vegetarians and organic snobs, and they are always feeding me incredibly delicious food. They are good, intelligent, healthy people and I have no problem with them or their lifestyle.
But I have had bad experiences with evangelistic vegans, and like I said before, self-righteousness is never sexy.
I disagree with your premise that “meat-eaters” are making a moral choice, also. Human beings are omnivores. People eating as nature intended is not a moral choice. Open your mouth, and look at your teeth - see those sharp, pointy ones? Those aren’t herbivore teeth.
I did not intend to offend any vegetarians/vegans who don’t think their food choices make them superior, but I stand by my point that the ones who do belong in a discussion of food snobs.
I have to admit to being a wine and food snob, but you’ve hit on something there.
If you’re going to go to a restaraunt and order wine with your meal, presumably it’s a (at least slightly) special occasion. Why would you want to order something that you don’t like? This is very confusing to me. Matching wine to food is a topic of infinite mystery, but to dogmatically order whatever Ophrah said was good last week is going to help anyone.
Either go with something you know you’re going to like, or ask for some help. I know this isn’t the American way, but it does sometimes work.
Tapioca—Certainly, right on. I love dry wine, but for more inexperienced drinkers, I almost always buy something semi-sweet but decent because I find that has more universal appeal, and you should do your best to please the host. I realize that not everyone shares my love for a decent Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape (dad’s verdicts? “This wine sucks” in a heavy Polish accent), so you gotta accommodate. Oh, and asking.
Always ask the server for recommendations, whether it be for wine or food if you’re in a restaurant you’re unfamiliar with. I’m amazed at how many people will not do this. And people always ask me “why is it when we go out to eat you somehow end up with better food than me?” Duh.
Susan—What I don’t understand is what you can’t understand about vegetarians reasonings for not eating meat. It seems perfectly simple to me. The adage “do unto others” extends for them to animals, and hence it’s against their moral code to eat meat. What’s so hard to understand about that?
[Homer Simpson] Honey, just because I’m not listening doesn’t mean I don’t understand[/Homer Simpson]
I do understand the view, but I don’t care about or agree with it. There isn’t much to discuss after I’ve made that clear, so I try to avoid it if I can.
[QUOTE=pulykamellI realize that not everyone shares my love for a decent Chateau-Neuf-du-Pape[/QUOTE]
If you can rustle up bottle of Vieux Telegraphe 1990, I’ll bring a bag of chips 
Pulykamell
I was originally going to say misconception, changed my mind to perception, and somehow typed in preconception. :smack: Is that even a real word or have I just committed a Bushism?
O Lissy, it’s a word. It’s just not quite the word you want. 
Surely the fact that people can survive perfectly well without eating meat casts some doubt upon your evolutionary determinism? Also, about ten seconds of research will tell you that humans have many other physiological characteristics that align much more closely with the herbivores of the animal kingdom, rather than the omnivores. Mouth cavity ize and shape, saliva, stomach size and acidity, small intestine length, and a variety of other indicators suggest close correlation to herbivores.
I’m not arguing that humans shouldn’t eat meat, or that they are not physiologically capable of eating meat. I’m just suggesting that anyone claiming that eating meat has no moral component because we are naturally omnivorous might not have done very much actual reading and thinking about the subject. It’s even quite difficult to make the case using just the shape of our teeth, as you have tried to do.
But that’s rather beside the point. Even if you can make an argument that our bodies are designed to process both meat and vegetable, you still need to account for the way that the meat is brought to your table. What is the evolutionary justification for our cramming chickens into battery cages, or cattle into feedlots? The fact that some people are willing to eat meat produced in that way surely demonstrates a certain moral and ethical position.
Finally, your argument completely elides the fact that human beings are creatures not only of nature, but of culture. We choose to do (and sometimes choose not to do) plenty of things that are not necessarily particularly “natural” for us. Which makes many of our seemingly “natural” habits a product not only of nature, but of culture and, therefore, of morals and ethics.
My experience has been different. The wine lovers I’ve worked with - and I’ve worked with 2 Master Sommaliers - appreciated almost any type of wine. A sweet Vouvray was as appreciated as a dry White Burgundy. True, it’s more difficult to pair a sweet wine with a savory meal, but most people I know grow more fond of sweet wines as they learn more about wine, not less. And I’ve seen many a person who claims to actively dislike sweet wine go nutty over a really good dessert wine.
Much oblidged, and my apologies for being too lazy to look it up myself.
I had Diet Coke with my In-N-Out Double Double (animal style, no tomatoes or pickles) for lunch yesterday, so I guess I’m the sort of person of whom you speak. I didn’t do it because I thought it made me smarter or better.
I chose diet because regular Coke is too damn sweet for my taste. I used to absolutely guzzle it, but I just don’t like the stuff anymore. I prefer Diet Coke.
I don’t think I’m as unusual in this as you seem to believe, either. Sorry it bugs you, though - that isn’t my intent. 
My friend Angus is a Chicagoan and he puts ketchup on his hotdog…
Sevruga’s nice too…
All of the questions you asked can be answered with a simple, “it’s called preference”.
But here goes.
[If you drink light beer ala Miller or Budweiser you’re considered an idiot "Those taste like piss, give me a Bass Ale or Guiness, that’s what real men drink."
Well, considering I think all beer tastes like that, and that I’m a bit wary of those who care about beer a little too much, I guess I’m not a snob on this one at least.
**If you drink your coffee black, your somehow have an edge over those who use cream or sugar.**Um no, I don’t have any “edge” I just don’t like the way sugar makes my coffee taste to me, it makes it taste a little “burnt” or something. And as to no cream, well occasionally I do like cream in my coffee, but I try to avoid extra calories whereever I can, besides, again, it just tastes better to me black. As long as it’s made from decent beans and isn’t that storebought “grounds” garbage. And again, that’s just my taste preference, there’s nothing wrong with people who drink folgers.
**If you get you buffalo wings mild, your just not as cool as those than get them blazin’ hot.[//b]Okay, I have to admit you got me on this one. I LOVES me some spicy food, and I have to admit, I have just the TEEENSIEST bit of the devil in me about this one. I’m forever teasing my mom, who thinks black pepper is too spicy, "hey mom? wants some of my jalapenos on your nachos? No, I’ll share really {Evil Smilie).
**Eat dark chocolate and your much more sophisticated than those eating that milk chocolate stuff.**Again, just preference, plus dark chocolate has the added benefits of being more satisfying and requiring less of it. And I think I read somewhere that it has some mild health benefits too (can’t remember what they are, or where I read it though, so take that with a grain of salt, maybe someone else in this thread will have a better memory than I). It’s just about developing tastes for certain things, not about snobbery.
**Drink a cosmopolitan, daquari, or pina colada and your a wuss. Drink some Jack Daniels and your a man.**Can’t speak for drinking, since I don’t do it a whole lot, but I prefer a marguerita when I do, Gold/rocks/salt please! And that, again is just taste, not snobbery. And as a woman, again, I’d be very cautious when it came to my acquaintances who prefered Jack straight up or something. I am not too fond of spending my time in the company of those who imbibe a little too freely (and NO, I’m not saying all whiskey drinkers do that).
Except for the spicy food thing, in which really, it’s more of a teasing thing with my friends and family, no the foods I prefer are just that, preference. What I like to eat and drink is just that I’ve developed the taste for those things over the years.
Some of it was the experiences I’ve had. For instance, I worked in a flight kitchen in my very early 20s, we called it “little United Nations” because of the variety of nationalities represented among the employees. I got the chance to try and develop a taste for some very interesting foods.
To this day cucumber kimchee and hot rice is my cure-all for impending colds. (although my family and friends avoid me like the plague when I indulge, so it’s not a frequent treat :D).
If someone give you the old “Well, if you don’t like XYZ kinda food/drink which is superior to xyz, you’re defective” kind of vibe, well the problem lies with their perception rather than the food choice itself.