Honest talk on "homemade"

One of the functions of the Internet that I love is the ability to have virtual conversations with people through functions like listservs and discussion groups on venues such as LinkedIn.

Recently I took advantage of LinkedIn to start a discussion on the use of the word “homemade.” One of my pet peeves is foodservice operators using this term on menus to denote something that is—obviously—not made in someone’s home but is a dish that is usually made fresh on-site, as opposed to being made commercially in a central commissary or other off-premise kitchen.

I confess to being a literalist when it comes to descriptors; I probably would have been terrible at marketing because I don’t like to embellish or run the risk of promising something that the item I am describing might not be able to deliver. I have instructed my staff and freelance writers not to use “homemade,” even if a source uses the word. Instead, I’ve asked them to substitute “house-made” or “freshly made”—in brackets, of course; I don’t want to put words in our subjects’ mouths.

But in making this change, I began to wonder, was there a certain word or phrase that is preferred by most people. So I posed the question on several foodservice discussion groups, “What are your thoughts on using ‘homemade’ to describe menu items made on the premises?”

I heard from a number of people, some of whom I know and others whose names weren’t familiar. An old colleague of mine from my days at Food Management, Mitchell Schechter, responded, “the term house-made is both accurate and legally defensible. And Ron Inlow, the retired foodservice director from the University of Richmond, noted that using homemade can’ in some areas of the country, violate truth in menuing laws. He suggested “home style.”

Carol Gilbert, a foodservice consultant and university instructor with 25 years’ experience in school foodservice, said, “Use of homemade opens you to food safety issues. On premise of freshly prepared are much better.” However, she disagreed with my suggestion of “scratch-made:” it sounds unprofessional.”

Becky Moosbrugger, of A’viand Foodservice, came up with using “our own”: “Perhaps its even a signature dish,” she added.

Not everyone is against using “homemade”. Foodservice marketer Alexei Rudolf and retired college foodservice director Bill May suggested that I was being too literal. Said Alexei: “My expectation when ordering anything bearing that description would be something rustic . . . or generally of a home kitchen tradition.”

Bill added, “The message we should be attempting to convey is that the item available is made with tender loving hands by our staff and did not come prepared, ready to only heat and eat. Depending on the locale, [homemade, house-made or scratch-made] could be acceptable. We Southern boys (Bill is from South Carolina) like the sound of homemade, and we understand that our mother isn’t back in the kitchen with flour up to her elbows.”

Point well taken, Bill. To me, it’s not a strong enough argument to overcome my “truth in menuing” logic. But it is always fun to get a good debate going—even if it is a “virtual” one.