Tuesday, July 7, 2009

In which I show off my "good eater" stripes

Came across this on the Boston Globe today, entitled "The Omnivore's Hundred", a list of 100 things that every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life, according to this blog.

My list:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (the best I've had is still the Harmony Special, offered at the Harmony Hotel in Costa Rica)
4. Steak tartare (best with a raw egg)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (really? not particularly exciting or exotic)
11. Calamari (Comment above)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (This list is bullshit)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (OK, I had to look this up)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
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 (I had to look this up also, but it sounds like a garlicky and anchovy fondue, love it!)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (The one at Punjabi Dhaba is excellent)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (NOT FOOD)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (Also, NOT FOOD)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (on the list of things to try)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (I only think of weird vegan baking, no thanks).
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Haggis (but I think I'd like this a lot. <3>Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Dare to dream?)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (sorry, Vives)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

14 items that I haven't tried, and only one I wouldn't eat (or seek out) isn't bad I think. In my defense, I think this list is more heavily biased towards European foods, as it comes from a British blog. Other exotic things I'd throw on the list:

Jamón ibérico
Jellyfish
Chicken feet
Nagaimo, or Japanese mountain yam
Morels
Natto beans
Wild boar