Defining ‘Artisanal’
Friday, October 31st, 2008We’re building Foodoro.com to help people discover artisanal food.
So how do we define ‘artisanal’?
To us, artisans and craftsmanship go hand-in-hand. Every artisanal foodmaker we’ve ever met or heard about puts a lot of her or his time, care and effort into actually making food products. And by making, we mean roasting, growing, preserving, harvesting, cooking, tempering, and all the other verbs that describe what an artisan does.
Artisanal also tends to:
- …be made in small quantities. After all, there is only so much time in a day for artisans to create products.
- …use the best ingredients. Artisans are passionate about making the best possible products, and that usually means using the best possible raw ingredients.
- …utilize traditional methods. Many folks we spoke with actually started their business in order to make food “the way it used to taste”.
- …be made on-site. One of our favorite pastimes is actually visiting the kitchens, farms, and facilities where we can watch food being made, grown or harvested.
- …come from independent companies. Small quantities, expensive ingredients, handcrafted methods and local manufacturing typically run counter to the efficiency and scale of food conglomerates.
Keep in mind that our definition of artisanal is subjective and open to interpretation, and it will evolve over time—but to paraphrase a U.S. Supreme Court Justice: “We know it when we see it”.
Please don’t hesitate to tell us your thoughts!