An American Hundred

Checking out some of the responses to the Very Good Taste posts on the Omnivore's Hundred, this New York guy has put together an American version (VGT is written by a couple of Brits). Ha ha, I think, more fun!

He says:

OK, here's my Americanized take on Andrew at Very Good Taste's Omnivore's Hundred. What makes this an Americanized take? Well, I'm an American and I can step out my door right now and buy most of these things.

I'm afraid that mine isn't as exotic as Andrew's, but I'm surprised by how many of what I consider everyday foods, aren't. Not to say I eat these foods all the time, but each has crossed my table. I'm also not listing foods that are only available in one location, with the exception of Brooklyn pizza.

I'm going to steal some text from Very Good Taste right now. Why not? I stole his idea.

Here’s what I want 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.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here or at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The WhiteTrash BBQ Omnivore's Hundred:

1. Tomato Soup Cake (Bink and I made a Coca-Cola cake once)
   
2. Turducken
3. Chicken Feet (a friend of mine put them in the soup she made to go with her matzoballs)
   
4. Sauerbraten
5. Limburger Cheese
   
6. Asian Pears (when I had a crush on Bink, I introduced her to these)
7. Ham Hocks (with greens)
   
8. Ghee (as an ingredient)
   
9. Corn Bread (my favorite recipe for this is one I got from a textbook when I worked at a culinary college)
   
10. Buffalo Mozzarella
11. Florida Stone Crabs
    
12. Som Tum
13. Oxtails
14. Sundried Tomatoes
    
15. Beef Jerkey (also salmon jerky)
    
16. Tongue (in tacos)
    
17. Calves' Liver
    
18. Shoofly pie
19. Pulled Pork
20. Sour Cream Chocolate Frosting
21. Bison
    
22. Persimmons
23. Monk Fish
    
24. Hoja Santa Cheese
    
25. Whoopee pie
26. Peking Duck
27. Sopa de Ajo - Castilian Garlic Soup
28. Pistolettes
29. Naan
30. Country Ham
31. Jambalaya
32. Anchovies
    
33. Black and White Cookies
34. Chives
    
35. Potato Pancakes (latkes!)
    
36. Boudain
37. Macoun Apples
    
38. Brooklyn Pizza
39. Star Fruit
    
40. Dosa
    
41. Lutefisk
    
42. Rhubarb (with strawberries, in pie)
    
43. Scrapple
    
44. Cuitlacoche
45. Cherry Pierogi
    
46. Kumquats
47. Ambrosia Salad
    
48. Taylor Ham
    
49. Sardines
50. Capers
51. Dungeness Crabs
52. Grape Leaves (wrapped around both kinds of dolmathes)
    
53. Pepper Jelly
    
54. Hanger Steak
    
55. A just picked vine ripened Tomato still hot from the sun
56. Stuffed Quahogs
57. Smoked Eggs
58. Chicken Kiev
    
59. Bigos
60. Andouille
61. Shropshire Blue Cheese
    
62. Real Moonshine
63. Yuca
64. Chicken Katsu
    
65. Clams on the half shell
    
66. Scallion Pancakes
67. Tamales
    
68. Maine Lobster
69. Picadillo
    
70. Romesco Sauce
71. Sour Cherries
    
72. Paella
    
73. Gulf Shrimp
74. Empanada
    
75. Fluff (straight, and on ice cream - not with peanut butter, obviously)
    
76. Ostrich
    
77. Wild Blueberries
78. Skate
    
79. Black-eyed Peas (when Zirpu's sister and her husband got married, on a New Year's Day, we all ate this for luck)
    
80. Hatch Chile Peppers
81. Morels
    
82. Water Chestnuts
    
83. Massaman Curry
    
84. Goose
    
85. Jamon Serrano
86. Knish
87. Quail Eggs (raw, on sushi)
    
88. Gyoza
    
89. Conch
    
90. Rutabaga (with strawberries, in pie)
    
91. Turtle
92. Salsify
93. Hummus
    
94. Seviche
    
95. Barbecue Baby Back Ribs
96. Parmigiano-Reggiano
97. Pine Nuts
98. Basmati Rice (this has a lower glycemic index than other white rice, so until I can bring myself to eat brown rice again, we eat this at home)
    
99. Pickled Herring
100. Kohlrabi (we get these at the food bank, and almost no one knows what they are).
     

I have eaten 53 of these items. How can it be that I've completed more of the British list than the American list? This list includes seven items I won't eat - I tried liver, recently even, and didn't like it. It was pretty discouraging when I started looking at the list and hadn't eaten the first five things. But then I'd eaten numbers six through ten and hit my groove.


I find it interesting that this "American 100" includes so many foods that came into the country with immigrants, but that will lead to a discussion of what are purely American foods, like turkey with cranberries or "hot dish," and how one defines American cuisine (in The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, it's pretty clear that the dishes we call Chinese in the US did not originate in China).