Wednesday, August 27, 2008

What have you not tried ?

I was reading Clothide at Chocolate & Zucchini where she wrote about the Omnivore's Hundred. Compiled by Andrew Wheeler of the food blog Very Good Taste, it's a list of food that he thinks every omnivore should try at least once in their life.

Whether you agree with his list or not, it's an interesting exercise to see how many of these you've actually tried. He has also included wikipedia links where possible, for food that you have not heard of (there were quite a few that I had absolutely no idea).

If you have blog, this is what he asks you to do

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (I decide to highlight in green & red instead)
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.



1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (never heard of this)
3. Huevos rancheros (great hangover food)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (dried crocodile meat is a chinese delicacy to cure coughing spells)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (I missed how my mother cooks this with roe intact)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush (recipe here)
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (I lived in NY)
16. Epoisses (I've often eaten cheeses that I don't remember the name)
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 (we're berry mad over here)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese (same as #16)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (does raw chilli padi count ?)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (never heard of it but definitely want to try it now)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (my #1 thing to do when in San Francisco)
33. Salted lassi (I've tried lassi but never salted)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (A&W was all the rage growing up in Singapore)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea (in a English tea room in Singapore)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (please don't hold this against me)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (tried but not a big fan of)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu (once in a Japanese restaurant in NY)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (love this in onigiri)
53. Abalone (is it politically incorrect to say I love this)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (I've had many dirty vodka martini but never with gin)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (surprise but then beer's not really my thing)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (what is this?)
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 (yum)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (again never heard of)
75. Roadkill (yikes I believe it's illegal in France)
76. Baijiu (my grandmother used to make her own)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (we enjoyed it here)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (Daniel in NY)
85. Kobe beef (in those good old days of expense accounts)
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab (yum)
93. Rose harissa (I've tried harissa but never had rose harissa tho')
94. Catfish (love thai catfish salad)
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (snake soup in wintertime in HK - delish)

I guess 74 out of 100 is pretty decent. Some of the remaining 26 looks pretty interesting & will make it to my list of things to try. Some just don't tickle my fancy (horse ? roadkill ? no thanks).

Even if you don't have a blog, try this out. How many of these have you tried ?


4 comments:

Tsu Lin + + said...

You had FUGU? Thank goodness you lived to tell the tell!

Nettle Tea's supposed to help reduce uric acid in the body (for arthritis sufferers)?

petite fleur said...

Alright so the story about Fugu goes like this. We were NY in this Jap bar which has a restaurant too. Late night after one too many drinks we check out their supper menu & realised that they had Fugu on it. I guess it must be the liquor speaking cos we all wanted to try it then (thinking back it really wasn't such a good idea considering how inebriated we were).

We ordered & we waited & waited & after what seemed like a very long time, we asked them what happened. Apparently they had to call the chef who had already gone home by then to come back to prepare this for us. I mean, he must be quite pissed so it's getting to be worse & worse.

Then we finally got our dish & you know what, for the life of me, I couldn't tell you what it tasted like cos I really don't remember....

Tsu Lin + + said...

They called the chef back for you guys??? Awesome. Luckily for you the chef wasn't vindictive (FUGU, of all things)!

What a tale - perhaps you might want to try it again in the future, just so you'd remember the taste, but this time no alco before that.

petite fleur said...

Seriously what were we thinking !! I don't know if I'd have the courage the try it again esp if I'm not drunk.