BehindTheFoodspeak

Jane Mengenhauser, a culinary historian and former newspaper food editor, has gotten into the habit of clipping and saving new culinary euphemisms she happens upon in print media and the web.

She assembled a list of her favorites for a piece that appeared on the front page of the March 8 Washington Post Food section; the article follows.

I've Come To Terms With 'Em All

I have Unmet Flavor Needs.

I struggle with Trophy Stove envy.

I am offended, naturally, by Gastroporn.

Or maybe I'm just suffering from Goofy Food Lingo-itis.

When I come across these culinary euphemisms in the media and on the Web, I clip and save — so I can chew on them for a while.

At least it's an indulgence that's calorie-free.

Here are some notable entries that seem to have staying power:

Afishianado

A chef who likes to cook seafood.

— New Jersey cooking teacher and cookbook author Vicki Caparulo

Flexitarian

Another term for a "semi-vegetarian," coined in early 1990s.

— Voted most useful word in 2003 by the American Dialect Society

Meat Tooth

A craving or fondness for meat.

— http://www.wordspy.com

Chef cum food scientist

Degree in culinology now offered at several universities.

— From Sizzle magazine (American Culinary Federation Quarterly), Vol. I, Spring 2004

Culinary Bling-Bling

Expensive ingredients such as $30-a-pound exotic mushrooms.

— Okay, I may have made this one up; also used in the Cleveland Scene, March 10, 2004

Paleocuisineology

Another name for food anthropology.

— Mary Gunderson, culinary historian, from the Food Journal of Lewis and Clark Recipes

Farmageddon

The conflict over the safety and health benefits of genetically modified foods.

— The Evening Standard, Feb. 10, 1999

Kitchen Performance Anxiety

I suffer from it!

— The National Post (Canada), May 15, 2004

Hood Envy

Experienced by owners of newly remodeled kitchens when they see even bigger, better, more expensive and more powerful stove-exhaust fans elsewhere. The hood's the thing now.

— Ellen Gerard, leader of a home kitchen tour in Glenwood, N.J., New York Times, Feb. 6, 2003

Old Stoves

North Beach, Calif., slang for cooks who have logged a lot of kitchen hours.

— From a Les Dames d'Escoffier invitation event honoring great women of the kitchen

Trophy Stove

High-end appliance.

— Molly O'Neill, the New Yorker, July 29, 2002

Out-Saucing

Use of canned, powdered or frozen sauces.

— From an old "Shoe" comic strip

Speed Scratch Cooking

Marinated meat, fish or other foods ready to cook at home.

— Supermarket-speak for partially prepared foods

Floodweiser

Canned water distributed to flood victims by Anheuser-Busch Corp.

— http://www.doubletongued.org

Gastroporn

A vulgar display of food.

— Widely used; most recently, in the Sunday London Times, Feb. 19, 2006

Breastaurant

A restaurant that features scantily clad food servers. Often appears in stories

about the Hooters chain.

— http://www.doubletongued.org

Kitchen Pass

Permission from one's spouse to golf, bowl, bike, play bridge, tennis or bunko.

— Urban Dictionary

Sunday Taste, Tuesday Effort

Results of a quick, easy recipe.

— From an www.epinions.com review of the "Magnolia Bakery Cookbook"

Unmet Flavor Needs

Why Heinz puts out new ketchup flavors.

— A term used by a young PR man who phoned me about a line of new Heinz ketchup flavors.

March 12, 2006 at 02:01 PM | Permalink




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