Tuesday, December 02, 2008

An omnivore's checklist: pass it on.

Torn from another blog, URL below. My comments accompany, where needed.

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison.And Elk, Wild Boar, and Moose; no cats,kangaroos, or lizards unless absolutely necessary.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi. I don't like the sound of this, lemme get back to you.
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes. Mamere made wine out of the darndest things....her dandelion wine was smokin', right up there with 'shine.
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects . Chocolate covered bumblebees, actually.
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk. Goat cheese, and jerk goat, yes; milk, no.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more.Dad drank only single malts,an expensive wire here in the States. Here's to you, Dad.
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (A delicacy here in Richmond, there is a flashing light posted on the outside of their building to notify people when The Line is about to yield it's bounty! I'm not big on them{I prefer a cake doughnut}; again, Dunkin' Donuts standard plain sinker will suffice.)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal, sad to admit. But not since my heart attacks.
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini. I've had plenty of gin, though: G&T is my fav-o-rite summer drink.
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin. Oooooooo I just looked it up, I know I have to eat a peck of dirt before I shuffle off, but I think I will pass on this one, clay ain't food. I have eaten art paste, does that count?
64. Currywurst
65. Durian.Which smells worse, durian or epoisses (q.v.)?
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake.
68. Haggis Had it when I was in Scotland in '73, enjoyed it. Mind you, my mother used to serve tripe (and boudin noir), a rarity in S. Weymouth, MA. I draw the line at Fried Haggis, though, as it is fried.
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar (the good old stuff)and blini
73. Louche absinthe. It's on my personal List. Having acquired some in NH last summer, I want to do her right, the whole ritual."Absinthe makes the tart grow fonder".
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill. Half the wild raccoons and skunks have rabies: my question is, do you feel lucky, Bubba?
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie HAHAHA. How did this working class delicacy get on the list? I didn't know it was available in the UK. A vending machine fav-o-rite from the bad old days.It really ain't food if you can get it from the machines at APA Transport in Canton, MA, which is where I got mine.
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (I stuffed zucchini blossoms with ricotta and herbs , yessss; found 'em at the Goochland Farmer's market one year. I was on 'em like a duck on a June-Bug.)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish One cannot live in the South any number of years without eating this fresh(or not so, if they are wild) water delight.
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee . Wasted on me, really: Dunkin' Donuts suffices.
100. Snake

As you can see, there are not many that I would not try. I may be a bit quiet afterwards, but I will generally try anything before me. Especially if I was a guest."Food fussers" were quickly culled from the Phillips' herd.

2 comments:

Roderick Robinson said...

I've consumed 60 of them. Two (frog's legs and eel) I wouldn't reconsider. Eight of what remains I wouldn't tackle in the first place (root beer float, Kaolin - since its primary function is to bung up an attack of diarrhoea, Krispy Kreme doughnuts, the cigar that goes with the cognac, zucchini and/or courgette flowers, snake and/or crocodile - since I'm a herpetophile, clotted cream tea). Two more I'm dubious about (catfish and carp) since people whose judgement I trust rate them as tasteless. The majority of the remainder are in languages I don't recognise.

However I can claim two oddities when I was in Japan: caramelised grasshopper (tastes like straw) and 100-year-old black eggs (a great disappointment; a bit like savoury yoghurt).

The most memorable taste ever was also in Japan; a paste made from some form of jellyfish mixed with horseradish. Closest approximate taste: gasoline.

Stacy said...

fantastic list.