Jan's Word of the Day, April 9, 2007

The word of the day for April 9, 2007 is “gourmand” — noun 1 : one who is excessively fond of eating and drinking. 2 : one who is heartily interested in good food and drink.

Re-reading what I wrote yesterday, I was thinking that most of the food this weekend was not traditional Easter fare. The lamb, while it is traditional for many, is something I have never tasted. Usually, we have ham with some combination of vegetables for Easter. My sister was saying that she had not cooked lamb for a number of years. For a while there, her church held a Seder supper for Maundy Thursday. She was usually involved in the preparation.

Other holidays have other traditional fare: the American Thanksgiving turkey with cranberry sauce; turkey, ham or standing rib roast for Christmas; corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day; doughnuts and oranges for Broderick Crawford Day. Although people don’t feel bound by these so much anymore. The first Christmas after the youngest of their children moved away from home Mother and Dad had beans and wieners for Christmas dinner. When I fret that I don’t have some ingredient for the holiday table, Lloyd tells me not to “stand on too much ceremony.” Of course, if I were to suggest we have bean and bacon soup for Thanksgiving dinner, he would never recover from the idea.

The quote for today is from William Safire, "The Post-Holiday Strip” NY Times 6 Jan 85::

In the lexicon of lip-smacking, an epicure is fastidious in his choice and enjoyment of food, just a soupçon more expert than a gastronome; a gourmet is a connoisseur of the exotic, taste buds attuned to the calibrations of deliciousness, who savors the masterly techniques of great chefs; a gourmand is a hearty bon vivant who enjoys food without truffles and flourishes; a glutton overindulges greedily, the word rooted in the Latin for “one who devours.”

;^) Jan

Tags: gourmand