"The Food Snob's Dictionary"

I recently read all the definitions in The Food Snob's Dictionary: An Essential Lexicon of Gastronomical Knowledge by David Kamp and Marion Rosenfeld.

This is a fun read. The authors list food snob topics from Acme Bread Company to Zingerman's. The overall attitude of the book is by necessity snarky and superior, but I found it bearable since I share a lot of their dismissive analysis of food snob concerns.

I particularly liked the little supplementary lists. For example, "Faux Food Snobbery: Six Foods that Non-Snobs Mistakenly Believe are Snobworthy (and That Snobs Can't Be Bothered With)" -- truffle oil, Earl Grey tea, broccolini, kiwi fruit, Chilean sea bass, and Bell peppers in colors like orange and purple. Or the list of appropriate ways to refer to "Esteemed Food Personages in Conversation with Other Food Snobs," which includes "Bud" for Calvin Trillin and "Simca" for Simone Beck. Or the list of films that "All Food Snobs Must Profess to Have Seen" -- including two of my favorites, Tampopo and Babette's Feast. Actually, I did see most of these, though I doubt if I fit their definition as a food snob.

I was going to cite my favorite definition, but I can't decide which one it is. I'll just mention the entry for the Super-Rica Taqueria in Santa Barbara, which is renowned because Julia Child used to eat there. The authors write: "Though the torn-canvas roof and lines out the door suggest an enervating exercise in underwhelming reverse chic, the tacos -- made with thick, homemade corn tortillas... -- are actually good." They don't even mention that these tacos are made by an elderly woman while you wait (and the line behind you waits). Or that there are other taquerias in Santa Barbara where the lines are shorter. I was last there in 2003, maybe it's different now.