Hello, everyone. I’m Liz. Today I want to talk to you about the identity of a gourmet and how my self-taught journey as a gourmet started. We have done so many episodes on our channel , but we haven’t had a chance to tell you what a gourmet is like. people and my views on foodie , some netizens saw my channel name Liz Foodie and thought I was so bold that I dared to call myself a foodie , but I know very well that the title of foodie is very heavy because it gives people a sense of authority and a sense of authority It usually comes from professional knowledge and a sharp point of view , as if you need to know everything, and it takes a lifetime of accumulation to become a family . That’s why many food content creators don’t call themselves gourmets because it’s too stressful and gives people a sense of superiority . As long as you are not a gourmet, you can stay in the comfort zone of personal sharing . You just need to subjectively say whether you like it or not. I like it, it’s fine if it tastes good or not, but have you ever thought about how a person can become a gourmet? Is there any school to study , or is there any certificate to take an exam? This is about my background. I came from a legal background. I’m still talking about academic qualifications at my age , so I’m sorry , but let me introduce to you. I graduated from the Law Department of National Taiwan University and then worked in an international law firm in Taipei. Later, I also applied to Harvard Law School and obtained a Master of Laws LLM degree. In the same year, I I also obtained a New York State lawyer’s license . When I returned to Taiwan , I went to work in the same law firm. I know where the next goal is. Is it going to be a partner of a firm or the chief legal officer of a large company ? I was also very scared when I saw the senior lawyers working in the firm because I knew that would be me. The next 20 years The life I want to live in the next year , and I don’t want to live the life of devoting myself to clients . At that time, I began to think about what kind of work could be my life’s career. I was very excited when I woke up every morning and opened my eyes . At this time, I thought of “eat " I grew up in a family full of gourmet food . My father is a gourmet. He not only knows how to eat, but also cooks well . He often entertains guests at home with a lot of big dishes, such as abalone and Buddha jumping over the wall. Banquets, and I also like to go out to eat , and I will take us with me, so I have eaten a lot of good food with my father since I was a child, and I watched him comment on the dishes in the restaurant. I thought it was very cool , so I followed him unconsciously. Learning from everything , food has always been my great passion . At the crossroads of my career, I suddenly had an idea , but I encountered a problem, how should I become a gourmet ? I found that compared to lawyers , gourmets do not seem to have a clear way to develop into a gourmet . Only through self-study , it was a long self-study I have accumulated self- study process . I also thought about going to a culinary school , but I don’t think that I am not suitable for working in the kitchen, so I also thought about whether to go to a food culture study like Slow Food University in Italy. degree , but I was 27 years old at the time, should I still study for a master’s degree in liberal arts The blog named it the self-study path of a foodie . My blog, the self-study path of a foodie, was established in March 2011. I left the law firm in February 2012 and never looked back. I have been a lawyer. Looking back on the past 12 years , I have become a full-time food content creator step by step. In addition to writing blogs, in 2018 , I also established another food media called Taster . Our company also entered the media business. After entering e-commerce , I have also actively entered the audio-visual field in recent years , including Podcast and YouTube. During this process, I have interviewed many well-known chefs at home and abroad , including Taiwan’s representative Jiang Zhencheng and Chen Lanshu , as well as many world-class chefs who are well-known overseas. Then everyone can take a look. I have a video of unpacking the menu , which records and collects the amazing restaurants I have eaten in these years , so I have also tasted a lot of amazing meals and accumulated a lot of extreme dining experiences . Along the way, I am There are still many doubts. For example, is a food blogger a foodie ? Is a food writer the same as a foodie? It seems that many foodies have never published a book , and if you want to be a food writer , do you have to publish a book? In short , there are all kinds of questions that keep popping up. It’s my doubts about my own identity . In fact, these questions are all attributed to one question, which is how to be a gourmet. Next, let’s analyze the connotation of a gourmet . I think First of all, gourmets, food critics, food writers , do you think these three nouns have the same meaning? I want to tell you that the meanings of these nouns in Chinese and English are not the same . In English, there are actually more detailed noun classifications and definitions. To be clearer, gourmet and food critic seem to have the same meaning in Chinese. Both can refer to people who are good at evaluating food . He has normal abilities and professional knowledge. In fact, in English, there are several different nouns for gourmet alone. People include Epicure Gourmet Gourmand and Gastronome, etc. Food critics and food critics have different meanings. Food critics specifically refer to people who comment on food or restaurants . This person shares his eating experience with the public through writing . Usually He writes reviews for newspapers, magazines, travel guides or food websites to provide the public with a basis for judgment. There is also a more specific type , which is The restaurant critic hired by the media can be seen from this. Food critic is a specific profession . As mentioned earlier, food critic will use writing to share his opinions with you . Now that writing is mentioned , it will be related to food writers. In the United States Several well-known food critics have also published books . They will also be considered food writers , such as Ruth Reichl Adam platt Jonathan Gold. I just mentioned that there are 4 different words for food in English. What do they mean? Well, let me explain it to you The first thing we see is Gastronome , which means a judge of good eating. It is a word derived from Gastronomy, and Gastronomy means gastronomy, and it is used to express the art and science of fine dining . The second one The root of the word Epicure is very interesting. It comes from the Greek philosopher Epicurus . Epicurus has a famous theory. He believes that the greatest good comes from happiness , and divides happiness into static and dynamic . Happiness means the happiness when you are satisfying your desires . For example, you are enjoying delicious sushi and feel that it is so delicious. You are full of joy in your heart. Happiness like that. Static happiness is the happiness that comes from being calm because your desires are satisfied. For example, After you finish this sushi meal, you think that this meal is really wonderful , and the taste lingers in your mind. The happiness generated by this calmness is static happiness. Epicurus puts a lot of emphasis on the satisfaction of desires. This incident caused him to be equated with hedonism , so the word Epicure originally had a pejorative connotation of gluttony , but in the early 19th century Epicure began to acquire positive connotations , especially in Britain , and today Epicure It means people who have cultivated exquisite taste for the pleasure at the table , or people who are selective and picky about eating and drinking. Many people will use the word Epicure . Let’s take a look at the word Gourmand Gourmand. It originally also has a greedy mouth The negative meaning later became more positive in France. For example, in the 19th century, there was a well-known gourmet Grimmo. De. pull. Henier published a gourmet magazine called "Gourmand Almanac", which used the word Gourmand in the French title. In the early 19th century, the Oxford English Dictionary also gave Gourmand a positive connotation . But today , Gourmand in English is actually It still has a negative meaning , and it is not the same as the person with delicate taste buds represented by Gourmet , so finally we will mention the word Gourmet. Gourmet is considered to be a person with delicate taste buds , and it is also very often used . To refer to a noun for gourmets, like the English name of our channel and my IG account, it is called self-taught Gourmet . This is the English noun that immediately came to mind when I chose the name more than 10 years ago. So many words , actually mine The point is to go back to the first term , which is Gastronome. I read a book a few years ago, written by British sociologist Stephen Mennell , called All manners of food, in which he particularly emphasized the importance of Gastronome , and he believed that Gastronome is closely related to Several other gourmand languages have one significant difference . A gourmand doesn't develop his refined taste just for the pleasure of the table. He develops his refined taste by writing while helping others . And that's the point. A gourmand can't Just enjoy good food , love to eat and drink He must also be able to form a discourse And such a discourse usually has to be expressed through writing A gourmand He must be an opinion leader in the public sphere He must be able to present his opinion His personal opinion And such an opinion For the catering industry, it is constructive for restaurants and chefs. I think this is a key difference between gourmets and ordinary gourmet lovers or Foodies. As we just mentioned, a gourmet must be able to make an argument . In fact, this also means that he must There is a channel for the media to speak out . Before the Internet age, if a person could put forward an argument and his opinion should be heard, he might have to follow the route of traditional media . Now everyone can run a self-media . There are many opportunities, but it is also very noisy. I can only say that I just happened to be in the age of self-media and social media , and I just got on this train. Now that everyone can operate their own IG account, Facebook fan page or YouTube channel , is it possible for everyone? As for being a gourmet, I have to say that practice is the key to putting forward a point-of-view discussion . In this process , you must constantly absorb knowledge and accumulate experience. I also hope that I can do it . Then you will want to say, Liz, have you become a gourmet? I still I’m really afraid to say that but you will definitely question my channel name, right ? Why did you call it Liz Foodie ? It ’s because my channel wasn’t called that in the first place, but it was actually called Liz. I want to use my blog name to see if it will be better for SEO , but I find it is too long for viewers to remember . I hope to change the channel name to be more concise and powerful , so it becomes Liz, a gourmet, it’s not because I’m arrogant , I still maintain a relatively modest attitude towards food. I know that there are people outside the world, and the masters are among the people . Many people are actually better than me. He is not a person on the stage , but I still hope that I can be here I’m sharing with you more knowledge and opinions about food . If you think there is something wrong with the food content on this channel, it’s not accurate enough or there are any mistakes, please let me know , but remember to be polite and don’t attack maliciously, then I’m very happy Reply and discuss with everyone , and I have been exploring the identity of a gourmet and how my love for food can become a job . I would like to invite you to embark on the road of self-study as a gourmet with me . We will have many opportunities to meet in the future . I also hope Everyone likes today’s content. Do you have anything to say about gourmets? What do you imagine about gourmets? Please leave a message and let me know . Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and turn on the little bell . See you next time bye
