Gourmet cooking

Every night in almost every corner of the western world, there are some people enjoying refined gourmet cooking at a very special class of restaurant. The word gourmet is as much a cultural term as a culinary one, describing a food and drink culture, a refined style of cooking, and the people who enjoy it. ‘Haute cuisine’ is a related term, translating from French into the English phrase ‘high cooking’. Gourmet cooking generally takes place in a specialised restaurant or high class hotel environment, although it can also take place at a private residence. Some of the things that seem to always accompany gourmet cooking are elaborate and refined service, attention to detail and high prices.

The word ‘gourmet’ also comes from the French word meaning wine broker, giving an example of how this term can refer to drinks - most commonly wine - as well as food. The word ‘gourmet’ has a slightly different cultural baggage wherever you go around the world, as a gourmet attitude and refined sense of enjoyment for food and wine can either be seen as a positive or a negative thing. In the United States a specialised gourmet industry has developed in fairly recent times, and only since the 1980s has there been a distinguishable presence of premium food available to the general public. Other nations, specifically in Europe, have enjoyed a much longer relationship to gourmet cooking.

Globalisation has had a major effect on the field of gourmet cooking, with national cuisines now being able to spread across the globe. While a lot of gourmet restaurants still specialise in the food from one nation or even one region, there are an increasing amount of gourmet fusion restaurants that borrow from a number of cultures and time periods. Gourmet cooking is as much about presentation as it is about taste, and a gourmet chef must have an exceptional vision and attention to detail. Some parts of the gourmet cooking world even seem to delve into the idea of food preparation as an art form.

The gourmet food and drinks market is increasing around the world, due to the nature of globalisation, an increased standard of living among many people, and more attention being paid to nutritional issues. There are cooking events, magazines, television programs and even holiday spots who use the ideas and attitudes of gourmet cooking to market themselves to what seems like a growing and ever more refined food market.