This is a very, very hard article to write. I kid you not. When an article of great gourmet food is being written, one cannot resist the images of mouth watering dishes flowing in and around the mind pool. Your stomach begins to roll, your hands weak as plates of hot charcoal grilled salmons with a dab of homemade lime butter sauce or maybe a serving of buttermilk cake topped with loads of nutritious blackberries with generous supply of Beaumes-de-Venise (a fruity dessert wine which improves the flavour of the cake) swims around in your eyes. Your saliva glands begin to work hard like marathon runner as you craved for chicken Cordon Bleu. Imagine biting into the tender meat and let the smell and taste of both chicken and ham intertwined with your flavour buds. And then, the sour yet delicious aroma of melted gruyere cheese glides over your tongue.

I'm not doing myself any favour here. I am already in a state of euphoria by just merely imagining it.

Gourmet food, once only served to kings and queens, are increasingly popular among mere peasants like us. Just kidding. I am sure all of us have the equal right to savour these delicious meals. Gourmet food originates from the land of aristocrats and lovers, France. It is prepared with the highest quality and is often cooked by chefs who have discriminating palates and a great passion and knowledge of fine food and drink. However, with increasing television shows like The Naked Chef and Surreal Gourmet, it has been made simple with easy steps to make that great piece of art, waiting to be eaten.

There is a thin line between gourmet food and non gourmet food. Although gourmet food are prepared from the best ingredients, it does not necessary means that everyone will like it. The other part of this kind of food is that it only attracts a certain crowd, unlike fried chicken which appeals to all. Probably this is what makes gourmet food so highly regarded and praise.

There is a common misinterpretation on gourmet food. When I mentioned it to my friends, they start to ramble on using the best herbs and the best veal, fish and beef to prepare the dish. However, gourmet food is not only about that. It ranges from luscious desserts and cakes to snacks, teas and even popcorn. The word gourmet simply implies fine ingredients which equals to great food.

There are a lot of ideas which can be obtained from the internet or the library. I would like to share one with you which is very easy to make. All you need is just some bread, tomatoes, a bit of olive oil and preferably basil leaves. First, toast the bread and cut it into biteable pieces. Next, chopped the tomatoes till its fine and add a little olive oil to give the smooth texture. After that, spread the tomatoes according to your liking on the toasted bread pieces. Finally, just sprinkle some basil leaves and voila! Your very own bruschetta bread! It is perfect for quick snacks and people of all ages will simply adore it.

Gourmet food, just like any other item in the world, is evolving and is penetrating into fresher practical marketing scheme to introduce it to the world. Not surprisingly, people are afraid of the word of "gourmet" because it was once associated with royalty and high prices. However, an effective way to change the image of gourmet food is to bring it to them, in forms of gift baskets!

As gift baskets are gesture of kindness and gratitude, gourmet food makes an excellent "ingredient" to it. It will be a change from the usual boring canned foods or stuffed animals and flowers. A basket full of gourmet food will definitely be a head turner. Of course we would not be considering a beef stroganoff as part of the gift. You can always pack in butter cookies like Famous Amos or the original Kjeldsens Denmark cookies. For tea lovers, earl grey tea complete with jars of fine quality honey will make a simply wonderful gift. Wondering what to bring to the office barbeque, why don't you chuck in a couple of bottles of sauces into the basket? It will literally transform a normal cookout into one of the hottest restaurant in town!

Whenever gourmet foods are mentioned, there will always be the word "kosher foods". Just like Nescafe with its Nescafe Coffeemate, it is both associated and one cannot be apart from the other. Kosher foods are foods that are prepared following certain strict of the Jewish Law. Only certain animals and birds are considered. Fish has to have fins and easily removed scales to meet this requirement. The preparation is even more intricate as it can only be prepared by those who are trained and qualified. The animals must not suffer unnecessary pain when being slaughtered.

Nevertheless, kosher food completes the gourmet family. Kosher gourmet gift baskets are starting to get popular as they make perfect addition to Bar Mitzvah, birthdays and Shiva.

Ah, all these talk about food has made me really, really hungry. So till then, enjoy your gourmet food as I'm going to indulge myself in a heavenly feast of smoked baby back ribs with hoisin-honey glaze. Enjoy.