A customer comes into the wine and cheese shop and asks for pate. We
have "tres cornichons" pates. I ask her how much she wants, slice it
for her, weigh it, etc. Of all the items in the store, I like most of
them, or, if I don't care for it, one of the other sales clerks does.
The exception is pate. None of us can stand it. We don't even like the
smell. We serve it, try not to make nasty faces and wrap it up again
quick. We wonder how it can be considered a gourmet item when it smells
like spam.


This got us thinking about other fancy gourmet items. I enjoy many
types of seafood but not cavier which I think is slimy, salty and fishy.
I wouldn't go near fois gras. Personally, I don't like olives, but
others do. I do like saffron which is expensive, and I'm learning about
wines and slowly starting to think I can tell the difference between the
good stuff and the cheap stuff. Most of us like the blue cheeses though
there's a preference for the milder ones as opposed to the strong, wet
authentic ones from Roquefort.


So what's the deal with fancy French gourmet items? The people who like
them love them and come into our store just for them and rave about how
wonderful it is to find a store that carries them. Yuck. Those of you
who enjoy pate and cavier and fois gras, what is it about the foods that
you like? Can you describe them in a way that will make the rest of us
understand?


--Lia