An unsavoury world where the chef, not the customer, is king

There seems to be some confusion around the meaning of the term 'foodie', perhaps because we have not previously needed a word meaning 'someone who really likes food'. More often than not, 'greedy' would have done.

Of course, celebrating good food is nothing new: the Chaine des Rotisseurs gourmet society dates back to 13th-century France. Les Amis d'Escoffier Society of New York was formed in 1936 and honoured a chef whose stated mission in life was to democratise and simplify great cooking with an eight-course banquet at the Waldorf Astoria, matched with vintage wines and aged armagnac. Oddly enough, besides promoting egalitarian ideals and mentoring young cooks, Auguste Escoffier's latter-day disciples also celebrate the simplifier of cuisine with banquets.

As the positive effects of globalisation become apparent and our local supermarkets stock an enormous range of what were once exotic ingredients from around the world, our food knowledge, of course, is increasing. We know our sumac from our Sichuan pepper, our lemon thyme from our lemon grass.

But aren't we taking it all a bit too seriously?

At some point in the past 20 years, chefs (or more likely their public relations people) decided they were Chefs, and restaurants became temples of gastronomy rather than places to go for a meal. These restaurants have become all about the chef rather than the guest.

Sadly, some of us are complicit. People used to go to restaurants for many reasons ranging from practising the art of seduction to catching up on gossip to setting the world to rights, as they ate food they liked. Today it's all too common to see friends sitting in silence around their table as they snap photos to put on Facebook or a blog.