Why some foods become status symbols

HostWe all have those foods that feel like a treat, something we save for a big night out. Then there are the things we eat when we're just trying to get by, the cheap stuff at the back of the shelf. But when you look at what's actually on the plate, the line between fancy and basic is a lot thinner than it looks. How does a simple ingredient go from being something people look down on to something they brag about eating?

GuestIt usually comes down to how hard it's to get your hands on it. Take lobster. A few hundred years ago, there was so much of it that people thought of it as junk. It was called the cockroach of the sea. They used to feed it to prisoners or grind it up to use as plant food on farms. There were even laws saying you could only feed it to servants a couple of times a week because it was seen as cruel to give it to them more than that. But as the trains started running and we could pack it in ice and ship it to cities where it was rare, it became a prize. It wasn't that the bug got any tastier. It was just that it became hard to find for most people, and that changed the way we saw it.

HostSo it's just a supply and demand thing? If there's less of it, we decide it tastes better?

GuestPartly, but there's also a bit of a trick our brains play on us. We like to think we have our own tastes, but we're very tuned in to what the people around us value. If the most powerful or richest people start eating something, we start to think of it as high class. And for a long time, being high class meant you could afford things that were hard to make or came from far away. White bread used to be a status symbol because it took a lot of work to strip away the brown parts of the grain. Poor people ate whole wheat because it was less work and cheaper. Now, that has flipped. The richest people want the dark, grainy, sprouted bread that takes more time to grow and bake, and the cheap stuff is the white bread.

HostI see that with things like kale or quinoa too. Those used to be things you only ate if you had to, or they were just a garnish on a salad bar that nobody actually touched. Now they're everywhere in high end health shops. But wait, if something becomes popular and everyone can get it at the corner store, does it lose its status?

GuestThat's the big cycle. Once a food becomes too easy to get, it often loses that shine. To keep feeling like they're part of a special group, people who want to show off their status have to move on to the next thing. This is why we see a move toward what people call acquired tastes. Things that are actually kind of hard to like at first, like very bitter coffee, or stinky cheese, or sour beers.

HostHmm, I don't know if I buy that. People like those things because they actually enjoy the flavor, not just to show off. I love a bitter cup of coffee in the morning, and it's not because I'm trying to look fancy.

GuestWell, think about the first time you had it. Most kids hate the taste of coffee or dark greens or sharp cheese. It takes work to like those things. And that work is the point. By learning to like something that tastes bad to a beginner, you're signaling that you have the time and the money to develop a refined palate. You're showing that you're part of a club that knows better. It's a way of building a wall between you and the people who just want something sweet or easy. If anyone can enjoy a candy bar, but only a few people can enjoy a piece of ninety percent dark chocolate, the chocolate becomes the status symbol.

HostSo it's almost like a test? If you can get past the bitterness, you get to be part of the group?

GuestIn a way, yeah. It shows you have put in the effort. But lately, the game has changed a bit. It's not just about how expensive or weird the food is anymore. Now, status comes from knowing the right thing. It's about being an insider. You see this with street food. A few decades ago, a food truck or a hole-in-the-wall taco shop was seen as low class. Now, the person with the most status is the one who knows exactly which truck in which parking lot has the most real, hand-made corn tortillas.

HostBut that feels different. It feels like we're actually looking for quality instead of just a high price tag. Isn't that a good thing?

GuestIt can be, but it still works the same way. It's still about showing that you have something others do not. In this case, it's not money, it's knowledge. You're showing that you have the time to hunt for the perfect meal and the cultural savvy to know what's good. Even when we try to be down to earth by eating peasant food, we often turn it into a new kind of luxury. We take a simple bowl of ramen, which started as a cheap meal for workers, and we turn it into a thirty dollar bowl with a soft boiled egg and a story about how the broth was simmered for three days.

HostIt feels like we're just constantly rebranding the same basic ingredients to make ourselves feel special.

GuestOnce a food gets too easy to find at the local grocery store, the people at the top usually stop wanting it and go looking for the next hard thing to find.

HostThose plain beans on the table might stay cheap for now, but give it a few years and a fancy chef, and we might all be waiting in line to pay twenty dollars for them.