Saturday, September 6, 2008

The Omnivore's Hundred

In a pathetic effort to resuscitate our moribund blog, I have copied the list "The Omnivore's Hundred here. Robert found the list on the blog "Cosmic Variance" (whose author copied it from the originating blog, "Very Good Taste). The idea here is to bold the items you've eaten and strike through items you would never consider eating. Well, I am italicizing my "no way" list. If I have been too lazy to keep our blog active, then I am certainly too lazy to mess around with HTML.


If you're interested in keeping the discussion going, copy and post the list to your own blog as well.

The list below reflects my food journey; Robert has items that I cannot include, which he may append later. Such are the perils of the joint blog.


The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (There are certain things I like raw. Flesh is not one of them.)
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 (Well, not on purpose. This is not how I choose to demonstrate fearlessness.)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (Does its cheese count?)
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 (Sorry, I just can't get past what they are.)
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

So, I have 57 out of 100. I really enjoy Indian food, but was surprised by the number of dishes that made this list which I have not tried. Well, at least I made up for it with the booze and Southern junk food.

As ever, these sorts of lists are less interesting as guides in and of themselves, but rather as mechanisms for provoking conversations about the topic which the list addresses. The AFI puts out its Top 100 best American films so that I can say, "Citizen Kane? Really?!" And all the librarians and English professors who consistently rank Ulysses as the best novel of all time? You're damn liars and you have never actually finished the book!

Off to find more lists!