Is tasting expensive food gluttonous?

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Say you’re in a foreign country (Japan), and you want to try some of their food. Japan is known for having ridiculously expensive beef. Would it be a sin to simply taste it?
 
cjmoa said:
Japan is known for having ridiculously expensive beef. Would it be a sin to simply taste it?
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No, it wouldn’t be a sin to try it. Indulging your curiosity like this is a far cry from gluttony. Enjoy!
 
The Wagyu? it is an expensive beef to grow. High fat content that is marbled.
 
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to taste it, no, unless it was inordinate desire for satisfying yourself. to buy it? all that money? think about it. Eating simple foods to avoid luxury and waste of money is something Christians have done forever. I wouldnt do it, and spending that much money on such a super small amount of food is something Id consider bad stewardship and wasteful. I dont want to sound like someones mom, but people ARE starving and to appropriate that much money for your own momentary pleasure seems evil. its not like gilding a Church, which is done for God and to beautify the Bride, this is all for you
 
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krayzevuze said:
I wouldnt do it, and spending that much money on such a super small amount of food is something Id consider bad stewardship and wasteful. I dont want to sound like someones mom, but people ARE starving and to appropriate that much money for your own momentary pleasure seems evil. its not like gilding a Church, which is done for God and to beautify the Bride, this is all for you
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Using that logic, buying anything except potatoes and cabbage would be a mortal sin. I am sure that you spend amounts on foods that you consider ordinary but a starving African would consider extravagant.

There is no sin in an occasional treat. My first job was as an assistant to our Bishop’s private caterer. The food was splendid, and quite expensive. But the bishops and other clergy had no qualms about enjoying it. Perhaps if they ate like that every day, but there is no problem in splurging for a special occasion.
 
I don’t think it’s a mortal sin, but it is a kind of sin based on the definition that sin misses mark God set. slaving for others at all times should be what Christians do, for the salvation of others. it isnt a mortal sin, but I do think that anyone who loves God will leave the pleasures of this life and only focus on a) their love of God b) leading others to the same thing, 24/7, with no rest except what nature forces to keep doing a) and b). occasional abstinence/church minimum mandate → fasting wed/fri → fasting more often → permanent abstinence and fasting(vegetarians) → greater permanent abstinence and fasting (vegans) → living on the Eucharist alone (super rare, prob wont happen). I read a quote by a monk that went like that, basically the closer to God one is the further from the pleasures of the flesh, especially the kind of food you eat, and how expensive it is, and how much you focus on the taste, decreases. Ofc someone could fake this but still, I need to find that quote again

FOUND IT:

“Father Theodulus, fasting is great profit for a monk. You should know that there are seven kinds of food for men, that is to say, seven degrees of fasting”
“A: Carnivores, who always eat meat. These are in the lowest degree of fasting, even if they sometimes restrain themselves from food. They are never able to advance in prayer.

“B: Lacto-vegetarians, who never eat meat, but only milk, cheese, eggs and all kinds of boiled vegetables. These are in the second degree of fasting, which is kept by Monks in coenobitic Monasteries and, very rarely, by laymen.

“C: Vegetarians, who eat only vegetables and boiled or raw legumes. This arrangement forms the third degree of fasting, and the most zealous monks of the common life keep it.

“D: Fruit-Eaters, who eat bread and uncooked fruits once a day, without otherwise ever tasting food. He who attains this degree of fasting is able to master his body and thoughts without difficulty and can advance rapidly on the path of prayer.

“E: Cereal-Eaters, comprise the fifth degree of fasting. To this degree belong monks – especially hesycasts and desert-dwellers – who eat once a day only black bread, cereals, and soaked grains of wheat, corn, millet, lentils, beans, peas, etc.

“F: Dry Food, is the sixth degree of monastic fasting, which is usually attainted only by the most zealous desert dwellers. Those who live in the this harsh asceticism eat only dried bread soaked in water, with salt or a little vinegar, once a day and by measure. This is how the hesycasts of the Nile valley lived.

“G: Divine Food or manna, is the last and highest degree of monastic fasting, which is attained by very few ascetics after prolonged asceticism, being strengthened by the grace of the Holy Spirit. These are satisfied with the Most Pure Mysteries alone, that is, with the Body and Blood of Christ, which they receive only once or twice a week, without tasting anything else but water only. After difficult temptations and asceticism, and by the Grace of God, I have come to be satisfied with the Most Pure Mysteries alone, and no longer feel hunger, or have need of bread or vegetables…’
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krayzevuze said:
to taste it, no, unless it was inordinate desire for satisfying yourself. to buy it? all that money? think about it. Eating simple foods to avoid luxury and waste of money is something Christians have done forever. I wouldnt do it, and spending that much money on such a super small amount of food is something Id consider bad stewardship and wasteful. I dont want to sound like someones mom, but people ARE starving and to appropriate that much money for your own momentary pleasure seems evil. its not like gilding a Church, which is done for God and to beautify the Bride, this is all for you
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Using that same line of reasoning, what about the much greater cost of actually traveling TO Japan? That would dwarf the cost of the beef. Is it morally problematic in your view to take such trips? Should Catholics be limited to modest getaways close to home?
 
it is not about rules and actions, or loopholes and where the limit is, or what is precisely a mortal sin or not, it is only about one thing: " Oh, who can tell how impossible it is for a person with appetites to judge the things of God as they are! If there is to be success in judging the things of God, the appetites and satisfactions must be totally rejected, and these things of God must be weighed apart from them. For otherwise one will infallibly come to consider the things of God as not of God, and the things that are not of God as of God." ~ st. john of the cross

none of us are there yet, but we should face that way and progress, no matter how slowly or imperceptibly. this is the whole doctrine of our faith, all other aspects are irrelevant. if someone looks into themselves and sees that their action is compatible with the doctrine, then they should do it. that is all I meant to say
 
Jesus ate and drank well enough to be accused (wrongly, of course) of being a.glutton.and drunkard.

When He made wine at Cana, He didn’t make a modest amount of average-quality wine. He made 120 GALLONS of high-grade beverage, as the steward commented. For folks who had already had plenty to drink.
 
Are you able to afford it while still meeting you financial obligations? There is no food forbidden (remember, the book of Acts).

The Japanese super expensive beef is raised in a particular way, my late uncle learned the way and raised beef cattle in the same way. You could have a 2 inch thick steak and cut it with a fork!
 
Jbrady said:
My first job was as an assistant to our Bishop’s private caterer. The food was splendid, and quite expensive. But the bishops and other clergy had no qualms about enjoying it.
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My Archbishop said that, at least in Rome, the Pope, Cardinals and Bishops eat ‘posh fish and chips’.
 
Japanese food might be interesting, but eat the prepared puffer fish at your own risk.
 
If it becomes a big deal, like you just GOTTA have it, give it a pass.

I was at a Kobe beef speciality store/restaurant in Tokyo, and the vibe just wasn’t right. I mean, I was visibly not excited, not engaged in this potential sampling of the delicacy, and you could tell it bothered the host a bit.

IMO delicacies, high end stuff is not attractive to someone trying to imitate Christ.
 
cjmoa said:
Would it be a sin to simply taste it?
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If it’s sinful to budget for a taste of real Kobe beef during a vacation to Japan, doesn’t that mean that the whole trip must be sinful as well? What a silly idea.

I’m reminded of the Jewish saying to the effect that “Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures which he or she has failed to enjoy.”
 
neophyte said:
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cjmoa:
Would it be a sin to simply taste it?
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If it’s sinful to budget for a taste of real Kobe beef during a vacation to Japan, doesn’t that mean that the whole trip must be sinful as well? What a silly idea.

I’m reminded of the Jewish saying to the effect that “Everyone will be called to account for all the legitimate pleasures which he or she has failed to enjoy.”
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I think it was Groucho Marx who pointed out that it’s just as wrong to not appreciate the really good things in this life as it is to revel in the evil things.
 
How should the line supposedly be drawn on what is too indulgent and what is not? Who decides? You can’t condemn an action as gluttonous or sinful if the line is merely a matter of opinion. Is there not value in experiencing some unique cultural experience that may happen to be fancy?
 
Remember that when you consume a luxury product, a lot of people have been involved in producing that product and bringing it to you. All of those people depend upon you to maintain their livelihoods.

My fiancé’s parents live in London. When I visit, they usually treat us to afternoon tea at a nice hotel such as the Goring. It’s expensive. But I don’t feel bad about it. An experience like afternoon tea at the Goring provides employment to doormen, waitstaff, chefs, and cleaners - and by all accounts the best London hotels are good employers that really invest in their employees. It also supports suppliers further up the line - tea planters, farmers, fishermen, butchers, millers, vintners, craftsmen and women who manufacture high-end tablecloths, crockery, glassware, cutlery, etc. It is also preserving a part of British culture, knowledge, skills, and traditions, that it is important should be passed down to future generations as part of their heritage.
 
I believe the sin of gluttony deals more with over consumption to the detriment of another area. Merely tasting expensive food does not ascend to this level of irresponsibility, and as such I do not believe constitutes the sin of gluttony.
Dominus vobiscum
 
There’s nothing wrong with a once-in-a-while treat.

Look at it this way. You have a hobby and spend a small amount on it, and you’re also donating money and time to the poor.

Maybe you spend more money on the poor than on your hobby.

But then you come across a really expensive upgrade you really want to have.

So you save the money you would have spent on the hobby, and in the meanwhile are still giving your normal amount to the poor.

Would it be then sinful to spend that money you saved on a toy for yourself? Prolly not.

OTOH, if you were regularly feasting on Waygu while others were starving, yeah, that would be a problem.
 
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