I'm always amazed at what people don't eat — or do eat. It's fun to introduce your kids' friends to artichokes, and mango — and even in one case lamb! It's even more fun to find a food that's new to you, something that can happen a fair bit if you live in a big city in this great immigrant country of ours.
Here's a list of 100 eatables that "everyone should sample" — the Omnivore's Hundred, according to Jill and Andrew of Very Good Taste — and the task is to tick off all of the items you've tried, even if only once, and even if with long teeth. Let us know by way of a comment which remain untested for you. (My own list, with items tried [73] bolded, is here.)
I've got a couple of items I'd add to any list of my own. I think nettle tea might go off, and chicken feet (in garlic and black bean sauce) would replace it; real caviare to replace clotted cream tea; Timbits instead of KrispyKreme (natch); mango for phaal (don't know what it is, anyway); and knish for Hostess Fruit pie… Oh, and the malt whisky would be from a $300 bottle. What would your substitutes be?
| 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 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 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 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. 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 |
Amusing list! I wonder if we could come up with a vegetarian version?
While I am not a strict vegetarian (I am actually a pescetarian), I stopped eating meat before having tried such things as lamb, venison or goat, and am unlikely to now.
I have had discussions with friends as to whether reptiles (crocodile, frogs legs) would qualify under my diet. I remain unconvinced that they would.
Things like soy milk, almond milk, rice milk, tofu, tempeh, TVP (textured vegetable protein) or quinoa might be some replacements for the meat items. As with any of the items above, you would want to eat them cooked by someone who knows what he or she is doing!
This is making me hungry! Happy Friday. :-)
Cheers,
Connie