Although we all love to boast of our gourmet cooking, certain characteristics must be met for it to truly be considered gourmet. The term gourmet cooking is a broad expression describing foods that are of high quality, sophisticated and are very often painstakingly prepared. Often, gourmet cooking may include rare or exotic foods that are of higher expensive. "Exotic" being a relative term, I will speak from the perspective of an American consumer for the purpose of this discussion.

Gourmet cooking includes an array of foods to be enjoyed at a favorite restaurant, when visiting a particular region of the world or for the adventurous type, to wow your guests at a dinner party. In fact, there are many gourmet cooking dishes which will fit nicely into a low carb lifestyle while adding some variety to your palate.

The typical food items which may come to mind when thinking of gourmet cooking are caviar and escargot which may be hard for some people to "swallow" due to their origins. However, due to the generality of gourmet cooking, there is a dish to suit virtually anyone. Some examples of gourmet cooking include: pate de' foie gras and truffles which not only are considered exquisite foods, but which have a history all of their own.

Foie Gras is goose or duck liver which can be traced back to Egyptian times through the examination of hieroglyphics. As water fowl began to fatten themselves up for winter, their livers would expand and provide a good protein source. Modern day foie gras is generally from specially raised fowl that are given large quantities of food with limited exercise, thus expanding the liver.

In the tradition of gourmet cooking, truffles are most known for their fragrance. Truffles are a mushroom which grows in the shade of trees and is the only fungi to grow beneath the ground known to man. The truffle is dated back to the Babylonians, Romans and Greeks and was said to have mystical powers. Evidence of truffles during the middle ages cannot be found however, as they were deemed "evil" by the church due to the alluring aroma and superstition surrounding them.

Experiencing gourmet cooking is not only about the taste of the food, but also the interesting, meticulous preparation and the rich history of the food itself.