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There's no such thing as gourmet coffee, gourmet rolls or gourmet pizza. Gourmet means one thing: “We're going to charge you more.” The same is true of the word cuisine. The difference between food and cuisine is sixty dollars.

- George Carlin

I like a George Carlin quote as much as the next guy, but this doesn't make sense. If gourmet means it costs more, then there absolutely is gourmet coffee, rolls and pizza.

He means the difference is not in the coffee — that "gourmet" is a price tag modifier, not a food modifier.

I've always seen "gourmet" as a negative. I've never found a decent food that needed to declare itself "gourmet" — only stuff that knows it's crap and feels the need to overcompensate.

For example, the popcorn made with some exotic oil and cheese that you'll get at a high-end movie theater? Never gourmet. The stale popcorn people sell door-to-door to raise money for their school? Pretty likely to be gourmet.

Everything is "artisan" too.