Sep 03 2008
The Omnivore’s Hundred
A Wiffer pointed me to this blog posting – the list is copied from Very Good Taste. It is a list they made of 100 things that they think every good omnivore should have tried once in their life. They have thoughtfully created links to a number of the stranger foods (I had to go look several of them up myself).
“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 recognize everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.
Here’s what [they] want [me and 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.”
The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred: (comments are in parentheses)
1. Venison (grew up near hunters – school was out for buck and doe days)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (yum)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (alligator really, it had a bit of a tang – not bad)
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 (yum)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas (a big mistake)
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 (on Hey Day at UPenn)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail (if ‘Rabe de Toro’ counts)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
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 (Of course. I lived in Savannah, GA)
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
61. S’mores
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
75. Roadkill (yes if survival depended upon it)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (not again)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (gross)
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (my mom was hoping we wouldn’t ask for the wing…)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (not a repeater…)
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
Sorry, deadly food and organ meats are out. How about you?
5 responses so far
Okay, you must share why you’ve crossed off root beer float. Such an innocent food, not to mention delicious.
What Jenifer said. It really doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with all the rest. I mean what could an innocent (and delicious) little root beer float have done to be crossed out?
I’m with you on the deadly foods and organs meats. And road kill? I can’t believe they’ve got that on the list. There’s quite a few I’ll have to look up and still probably won’t try, but there are also several that I love! So I’ll count myself as a bad omnivore since there’s no way I’d try all 100. Ick.
I just don’t like soda. Anything with fizz. Beer itself was a big effort and still… I’ve had root beer and don’t like it, so I wouldn’t ruin perfectly good ice cream by dropping it in root beer. I’m aware that I stand in the minority on this…
Ok, I’m going to have to make a serious effort to look up everything on this list and do a blog post about it. There are a lot that I would try, but there aren’t a lot that I would go out of my way to cross of the list. So, in theory, if my survival depended on it, roadkill would be acceptable. It would save me a step. But, if I live my whole life never having to eat roadkill, I won’t feel as though I missed out on anything.
My life would be so much easier if I didn’t like fizzy beverages. I’d at least have more of my teeth left. I’ve had the ice cream float and I’d have it again, but I really like my ice cream better without mixing it with soda. And, my soda is much better mixed with other things that give it a little kick