White Truffles, Caviar and Champagne, Barbecue Ribs, and Virginia Peanuts

I'm a glutton for pretentious, over-the-top food journalism. So I always keep an eye out for anything new from David Shaw of the Los Angeles Times, an award-winning journalist who never misses a chance to parade what he considers his keenly discerning sensibilities.

Check out his article today, which I found online at http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-matters15dec15,0,7575847.column?coll=la-home-food.

Before you do, savor a few quotes:

* "Every time I go to a sports event, I take my own peanuts, purchased by mail from a company in Virginia."

* "When I come back from anywhere abroad, my first meal is almost always barbecue ribs from Phillips in Leimert Park, often purchased on the way home from the airport and eaten in the car."

* "Come New Year's Eve,... we begin our evening standing in our kitchen, toasting each other with Champagne and nibbling on a small amount of caviar."

* "I consider it a testament to the love and respect I have for my late parents that after eating all that horrid Passover food when I was forced to attend seders as a child, I didn't convert to Christianity — or Buddhism — as an adult."

* "...at this time of year, I often find myself singing, 'I'm dreaming of a white … truffle.'"

* "I find that I need a critical mass of white truffles for that uniquely pungent, quasi-sexual aroma to have its full and proper impact."

Ah! It's a holiday goody bag of gourmet smugness!