One of my hard and fast rules is to never trust anyone who doesn't really enjoy food. People who only eat the same things over and over, without any joy, generally approach life the same way. Those people and I will never have much in common.
This morning I came across the a list of foods everyone should try at least once via:
http://www.verygoodtaste.co.uk/uncategorised/the-omnivores-hundred/
The instructions were simple:
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (Links to definitions are in green.)
3) Cross out - or change to red items that you would never consider eating
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
The list:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (?? might have - can't remember)
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi (I might have made this with one of the random curry mixes from the Indian market, but can't be sure)
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 (Clam chowder yes. Sourdough bowl no.)
33. Salted lassi (I've had sweet lassi but not salted)
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 (do earthworms 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
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
I will never eat durian (scary Asian fruit that smells like moldy dead feet, compost and pond scum). I will never eat horse. (Sorry, but watched read to many "Black Beauty" novels as a child). I will never eat Kaolin (and hope that I never have the need to).
Other items on the list delighted me.. I have a box of Lime Green Pocky sticks in the garage now. I throw them into the kid's lunches because the boxes are covered in Japanese and Japanese junk food is so much cooler than ours.
Fried Plantains...sitting on the back patio at Cuba Cuba with a Kristini (not named for me, but how could I not love it??), fried plantains and guacamole is like taking a mini tropical vacation without having to pack or wax.
Given the list originated in the UK, I can forgive a few obvious omissions. Green Chile. Fresh Peaches. Homemade butter caramels. Food so luscious no commentary is needed.
The best result of this exercise is not the resulting shopping list (where can I buy a goat?) , but the very simple reminder that we live in a big, bright, beautiful world, and its really our duty to constantly explore and expand our notion of what's good.
