Omnivore’s hundred

I’m distracted today – I’ve been waiting for the plumber to turn up for the last three hours. To pass the time, I thought I’d participate in the most recent foodie meme that’s been doing the rounds. Andrew from Very Good Taste has come up with a list of 100 foods he thinks every omnivore should eat in their lifetime. I’ve eaten everything that’s marked in bold on the list – crossed-out foods are foods I am unlikely ever to find myself putting in my mouth, and those in normal type are foods which I’ve merely somehow failed to try. So far.

1. Venison
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
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
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
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 (see – there is something I’m squeamish about after all)
43. Phaal
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 – not yet, but I’m going to Montreal later this month, where I intend to bathe in the stuff. (I finally ate Poutine in September 08)
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores (I finally ate S’mores in Jan ’09, in Portland. And darned delicious they were too.)
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (can you even buy this outside Norway?)
75. Roadkill (I have a very healthy fear of liver flukes)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (I also have a fear of transfats)
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
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (We used to be served spam fritters at school, and I’ve not eaten it since.)
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (I’m allergic. Lobster Thermidor is more likely to kill me than Fugu is.)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

I’ve tried all but nine – and should have got the number down to eight by October. Update Jan 2009 – we’re down to seven! I already have a list of Montreal’s top poutine joints in my notebook, ready for deployment later this month.

How did you do? Andrew is inviting everybody to take part:

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.

11 Replies to “Omnivore’s hundred”

  1. Hi Jules! I was quite chuffed when I realised I’d got more than ninety – but when you consider that, like the list, I’m British (so blood pudding, brawn, haggis, Chicken Tikka Masala and so on are as…meat and drink to me); that I travel a lot; and that I’m from a Chinese/Malaysian family, it becomes a bit less surprising. I’m still not ever eating spam again, though.

  2. I’ve only eaten 26 of those, I don’t know what at least half of the others are, and there’s a significant number of things there which don’t belong anywhere near a plate. I salute you and your adventurer’s tastebuds.

  3. If you are in Montreal and truly want an incredible eating experience, you must go for a meal at the restaurant Au Pied du Cochon. A link to the restaurant and its extraordinary menu is here: http://www.restaurantaupieddecochon.ca/index_eng.html

    The chef’s self-published cookbook, known simply as _L’Album_, is infamous in Canada and has received numerous awards. If you can read French, I recommend purchasing a copy if only for the visuals (the Anglophone version is also good, but lacks many of the detailed “cartoons”).

  4. Hi Anon! Actually, PDC’s menu has been in a folder on my laptop ever since I booked my aeroplane ticket, and we’re hoping to visit twice (largely because that menu has so much awesome-sounding stuff on it that there’s no way I can leave satisfied after just one visit). Also planning on plenty of smoked meat and hoping to get a table at Toque! – watch this space!

  5. i, too, am impressed. excellent work, ms liz.

    i wanted to recommend a better version of s'mores for you to try: soften the chocolate on your toasty graham cracker and top it with a slice of fresh, cool apple (instead of marshmallow).

    Galas, Fujis, and Pink Ladies are my favorites for this. The tart, juicy crunch of the apple is just right with the heavy sweetness of the chocolate & cookie. Enjoy!

  6. Blimey, that’s a whole lot!

    I love Spam, but that may be because I’ve never had to eat it frittered at school. Fried until crispy, on top of instant noodles is great.

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