I Am A Food Snob

This weekend, I received an e-mail from this ex-pat businessman who sells and delivers western food in this city. He sent us a list of the new items that he will be selling. I read over the list of items, and initially, I had a mixed reaction. Some things I was super excited about, such as chick peas, pasta, pretzels, cheerios, tortilla chips, and ziplock bags. Some of the other stuff, such as the Betty Crocker cake mix, can of stewed tomatoes, salsa, Celestial Seasonings tea, made me feel weird. I know I am super happy to have the opportunity to order these items, and am not trying to be ungrateful, but I still felt weird.

So I decided to analyze my negative reaction to this list; this exercise actually showed me a lot about myself.

One thing I enjoy doing while living here is making food from scratch. I like the challenge, as well as the sense of accomplishment when it is finished. Yet, so much can go wrong in the process of making food from scratch. But that is almost the challenge. But, with Betty Crocker cake mix, not too much can go wrong unless you don’t follow the directions. I almost feel like, now, if I make a cake from scratch and it is a disaster, people will think, why didn’t you just use Betty Crocker? Betty Crocker is now a temptation that I didn’t have to deal with the last two months.

Also, before, when I make salsa here, it is almost a novelty and the consumers gave me grace because that is the best salsa we can get, because it is the only salsa we can get. Now that we can get Tostitos Salsa, my salsa will now be shoved aside for the real stuff.

Another reason for the reaction is that some things I find on the list are a little funny. For example, Celestial Seasonings Tea. I believe the country we live in has tea. Actually, it has a lot of tea. Yes, it doesn’t have cinnamon tea or Earl Grey tea, but it has tea. I guess, though, my family didn’t grow up on Celestial Seasonings Tea, but other families did, and thus it brings people comfort to have Black Cherry Berry tea. Therefore, I should stop being such a snob, and be happy that some people can get comforts here that make them feel like they are at home.

Lastly, sometimes I like that there are some things you can’t get here. When I got this list, I thought, wow, I can not get everything here. I think I almost prided myself on being able to live without many of the comforts of home. Yet, as I look at the way I am salivating at some of the other items on the list, I realize that I am a total hypocrite. I love that I am able to order cheese, eat pretzels, have tortilla chips, and I could store all of these now in Ziploc bags. In the same way I am looking down at people wanting to buy tea, other people reading the list may think I am weird because I want to order tortilla chips.

Wow, just looking at why I reacted the way I did, taught me a lot about myself. First, I am a total food snob. Second, I like the attention/pride from being able to make food from scratch even if it is not as tasty as the box/canned/jarred stuff. Third, I am a hypocrite. Fourth, I get pride from thinking I am able to live off what I think are the minimal items in life.

I could go on, but I really would like to eat cheese on tortilla chips. Oh, where is my order form?