Being a foodie.

The way I look at it, there are food snobs and there are foodies. Food snobs think that the price of food is a reflection of it's value and taste. Which is, to be frank, utter bollocks.

Foodies on the other hand have a deep love of food and know that the best food can be cheap or even free. A cow isn't just steak, there's a lot of meat on there that can taste wonderful if you just know how to treat it. In fact this knowledge is essential when making a range of dishes- a good meat for grilling is not always a good meat for slow cooking. A foodie knows that there is nothing quite like freshly foraged blackberries.

And it is this attitude that I wish to convey to you, dear reader. I have an appreciation of food even if I'm absent minded about what I've eaten. There are so many textures, tastes and smells out there that you are severely depriving yourself if you choose to eat a cardboard burger from a well known chain. Speed and cost are not excuses either. I owe it to myself to seek nicer food, and so do you.

A start.

I've been taking an interest in my food for quite some time and I had an epiphany recently. I drink and eat without really noting down what was good and where I found it. It is, mostly, in my head but I won't remember it until I'm in the location I had it. For obvious reasons, this makes it difficult to enthuse or pass information on.

There is another aspect. I was given a rather eye-opening talk about foraging, mostly urban but also other environments. Don't take me for a fool- I knew it was there and in abundance. However, I was not going to risk poisoning myself without an expert showing me the ways to start. There's a very interesting array of flavours out there that we barely touch because of the stigma of wild food- especially in an urban environment.

So, a blog is born.