August 19, 2008

The Omnivore's Hundred

I just finished celebrating my dad's birthday (see the post on Cincinnati Chili cupcakes). Coincidentally the next day I came across The Omnivore's Hundred on wine me, dine me, a Cincinnati blog. This list of a hundred foods every omnivore should try comes from Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste. My father is always looking for new foods to try and I'm sure he has me beat on this list. We've been talking about trying to find a durian to share lately and he and my mom used to talk about making bagna cauda.

If you'd like to play along, here are the rules:
1. Copy the 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 on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

Those I've eaten are in bold.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I've had alligator.)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. Peanut butter and jelly sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (I miss the Ann Arbor hot dog carts something awful.)
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 (This does mean jello shots?)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Do gnats between your teeth while bike riding count?)
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 (Homemade ones are better)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear (The fruit and pickled leaves)
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
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (As food? Or accidentally eating face masks?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (I love funnel cakes!)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings or andouillette (I've smelled them being soaked, that was close enough for now)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (Haven't had the really good stuff though)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong (I have to find some now)
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
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

I think there are some foraged foods that should have made it:
-morels
-bread made with acorn flour
-fiddleheads