What classifies as Gourmet?

[Clover]

I made almond hummus today (which BTW is my new comfort food) and "taco meat" yesterday as Im getting bored with single fruits and veggies, does that count as being gourmet or do I need to take a class or something? I am so proud of my little baby steps as it has only been 8 days since I started 100% and was just curious what you all thought, please be kind :D

[Dimond]

Yes, it counts as gourmet. It doesn't need to be fancy or complicated. I have always stuck with simple gourmet. It's the only way I could be and stay raw. You're doing well. :)

[RawSar]

In this house anything that has been dehydrated is gourmet as well as anything that has onion,garlic,oil,spices, nut and seeds in it :D
We keep things pretty simple usually and try to stay away from those ingredients and the dehydrator by keep gourmet recipes for special occasions.

Gourmet dishes did help in transitioning, for me. Enjoy! I know I did ;)

[HereAndThere]

I always thought gourmet was whatever involved a dehydrator. Shows what I know, doesn't it? :cool:

From one raw baby to another, I sure would like that almond hummus recipe if you have it handy and can post it.

[MiahTay]

I always thought it was anything that required a process to achieve an end product (other than chopping something up). If a recipe requires my dehydrator or food processor, I would consider it gourmet. If it just requires my kitchen knife then - not. But I don't really know, I never gave it much thought.

Blessings,
Heather

[coconut-slave]

I'm not sure what the definition of gourmet is, but I'm pretty sure that one of the prerequisites is that it tastes good..

[cara4art]

Seems like with some raw people "gourmet" is anything other than extremely simple raw food eating styles(like mono-eating, 80-10-10, etc), which involve ANY recipe preparation whatsoever. Personally I would think of gourmet as very complex raw recipes, like certain raw desserts, tarts, stuffed things, complex "breads", etc. that require a lot of prep work and are often trying to approximate certain cooked things. As far as the poster who said that gourmet meant "tasting good", that can mean different things to different people. One person might not like a raw dish unless it's like the above heavier complex stuff, and another might be in heaven eating 3 good oranges. Plus it's natural to want stuff to taste good, no matter what style of raw eating we are progressing on. For me personally, since I liked to be somewhat creative(although pretty much always health-conscious)before with my food prep, that same aspect carries over into raw stuff. And yes, having some stuff on hand like crackers, dehydrator breads, and spreads works very well for keeping one raw and satisfied, IMO. I usually have at least one variety of cracker and dip on hand as a "go-to", and one of my frozen treats as a dessert "go-to" that's guilt-free. One's body will generally tell you when it's time to simplify, and one may go back and forth between trying some more complex stuff and simple things. Or saving the gourmet stuff for parties or non-raw people. I would have to guess that there are many people here who keep many things fairly simple on a daily basis, and use recipes as handy adjuncts, especially after they've gotten over the hump of going to raw in the first place, where Alyssa in her book tells everyone to make a lot of food in the beginning and eat it while transitioning. As fabulous a chef as she is, it looks like even her daily food is fairly simple.
On a daily basis now, I'm loving simple things, and maybe every other day I'll have some crackers or something like that. Even my frozen treats are simple - bananas and some other fruit, with a little bit of raw cashews and shredded coconut, but yummy!

[Clover]

I always thought gourmet was whatever involved a dehydrator. Shows what I know, doesn't it? :cool:

From one raw baby to another, I sure would like that almond hummus recipe if you have it handy and can post it.

I soaked some almonds in water for about 6-8 hrs, drained the water, threw those in my Vita-mix with some EVOO, fresh crushed garlic, fresh squeezed lemon, sea salt and blended, had to add a little water to get blending going but just enough to get that hummus consistancy. It to me tastes way better then chickpea hummus and I didnt care to much for sprouted chickpea hummus(it was super grainy). I hope you enjoy it as much as me:D

[Clover]

Thanks everyone for your helpfull insight, as I have yet to buy a dehydrator I have yet to become gourmet:p, but will continue experimenting until then.

[revdrcyn]

For me, if I use the food processor or VitaMix, it is Gourmet!

You are off to a great start!

[HereAndThere]

I soaked some almonds in water for about 6-8 hrs, drained the water, threw those in my Vita-mix with some EVOO, fresh crushed garlic, fresh squeezed lemon, sea salt and blended, had to add a little water to get blending going but just enough to get that hummus consistancy. It to me tastes way better then chickpea hummus and I didnt care to much for sprouted chickpea hummus(it was super grainy). I hope you enjoy it as much as me:D Sounds delish! Thanks! I'm going to have to try that.

[coconut-slave]

As far as the poster who said that gourmet meant "tasting good", that can mean different things to different people. One person might not like a raw dish unless it's like the above heavier complex stuff, and another might be in heaven eating 3 good oranges. Plus it's natural to want stuff to taste good, no matter what style of raw eating we are progressing on.

The point I was trying to make is that it takes more than just using a special tool or machine to make something gourmet. And if it tastes like crap, it probably does not qualify. Otherwise, you could blend up a rotten cabbage with some old news papers, dehydrate it for three days, cut it up and serve it with fancy toothpicks, and you'd have yourself a gourmet dish.
And, of course, just because something tastes good doesn't automatically make it gourmet.

wikipedia: Gourmet (pronounced /ɡɔrˈmeɪ/) is a cultural ideal associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations of large meals of small, often quite rich courses.
The term and its associated practices are usually used positively to describe people of refined taste and passion. For some, it holds a negative connotation of elitism or snobbery.

etc...