The definition of gourmet food is food that would be enjoyed by a connoisseur: a gourmet. This means that even food prepared with everyday ingredients could be considered gourmet food if it is lovingly prepared by a chef who knows how to cook very well. For example, my husband cooks a chicken jal frezi that is just excellent, so it can be a class as a gourmet dish. If I cook the same dish, it cannot be classified as gourmet food, as I am not very good at making this particular dish, I don’t have the patience it takes to make it perfectly. If you can take common ingredients, say peas, carrots, potatoes, and lamb, and cook them in a way that makes the dish great, then this is an example of gourmet food.
If you think of individual items that are classified as gourmet food, then Beluga caviar would be a contender for the number one spot. Beluga is a type of sturgeon that lives in the Caspian Sea, where Russian and Iranian fishermen catch it for its (unfertilized) eggs, as caviar is raw fish roe (eggs). If you are a true gourmet, then you will know that true Beluga black caviar can only be eaten with a non-metal spoon, as the metal reacts with the roe and does not taste as good if this happens. It is eaten with spoons made of mother-of-pearl, bone or tortoise shell (now illegal, you have to look for old ones). Part of the mystique and occult of caviar are the rituals that surround its consumption.
Wild smoked salmon is also considered a gourmet item and tastes very different from the ubiquitous packaged sliced smoked salmon found on supermarket shelves. Oysters (raw) would also be classified as a gourmet item. These seafood products are rich in vitamins and minerals and are very good for our health, and I often wonder if they became so prized for their nutritional content that farmers in Europe simply couldn’t afford them.
Yet peasants could find truffles, another highly prized commodity, in the woods if they knew under which trees to find them. The black truffles are the best (so it is said), but the white ones also have a lot to offer. In Italy in charcuterie you can buy some slices of truffle to accompany a dish, which makes them less expensive than buying a whole truffle. They can be added to a dish to make it extra special, as you don’t have to use a lot of truffle for it to impart its unique flavor to a dish. They are very good added to rice that is cooked with champagne (a truly gourmet risotto).
Cheeses lovingly made from sheep’s and goat’s milk by small dairy farmers are also highly prized gourmet items and increasingly can be found online. Brie would not be classified as a gourmet item unless it is ripe and sticky and made by French cheesemakers. The type found so often on supermarket shelves is not gourmet cheese.
Chanterelle mushrooms can be collected in the woods as long as you know what you are looking for. It is without a doubt a gourmet mushroom with its meaty flavor and its beautiful golden yellow color. They grow under (not on) trees and have very distinctive trumpet-shaped crowns. Fresh porcini mushrooms and morels are also considered gourmet foods.
You don’t have to pay the earth for a gourmet dish. All you have to do is be patient and understand the nature and quality of your ingredients to produce your own gourmet food. (Although Beluga caviar is wonderful!)