Another 100 Meme

Stumbling around on the 'net, I found this fellow's list of The Omnivore's Hundred. Apparently it has, like all memes (what makes a meme a meme, that is), sped around the food blog world with all kinds of people responding and commenting. Actually I recommend reading his follow-up posts as well, especially why he selected the things he selected.

These lists are also fun because they are brainless posting subjects. "What, you wish to interview me? Sure!"

The Omnivore’s Hundred

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers. 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. [I will be coloring these in green as I don't know how to cross words out]
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

The Very Good Taste Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison (sausage in spaghetti sauce)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (but I've had tuna tartare)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (can you say gefilte fish?!)
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (allergic to the ole goober pea, I am)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses (had to look this one up - yet another stinky French cheese)
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (plum wine; also slivoviz, a lethal plum vodka-like beverage)
19. Steamed pork buns (I've been craving these for days)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (as a Californian, should I even consider eating this?)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (if undercooked counts - ouch!)
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 (I've had cognac, and I've had Swisher Sweets cigars, but not together)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (in black cherry, red cherry, lime, and strawberry, all with vodka, and orange with Malibu rum. In 2002 I made gin and tonic Jell-O shots from a recipe my mom gave me out of the New York Times).
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (I'm pretty sure this isn't what he means, but I did eat an earwig about ten years ago. Thinking about it gives me the heebie-jeebies).
43. Phaal (why eat something too hot to taste?)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (save it for those who would appreciate it)
46. Fugu (I run the risk of death with peanuts - that's enough for me)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (I love unagi!)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (too sweet for me)
50. Sea urchin (by accident - yay sushi boats!)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer (easy to make, too)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (I don't think I've ever eaten a Big Mac - it's always been Quarter-Pounders for me)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (hello, I grew up in the '70's)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (this is mud. Maybe a special mud, but unless someone providing me medical attention insists, I'll pass)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (A friend told me that the taste is not worth the smell)
66. Frogs’ legs (Did you see The Muppet Movie? 'Nuff said)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (there's a Hungarian version of funnel cake heaped with sour cream and garlic which is even better than the sweet version. Plus, it keeps the vampires away for hours)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (I've had a cheese that sounds like the way this one is described, but I don't know if this is what it was)
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu (turns out it's a kind of rice wine - I've had rice wine, but not this)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (ate an apple one many mornings during break in ninth grade)
78. Snail (I'm sure if I just concentrate on the butter and garlic, it'll be tasty. But will knowing what it is, and the texture, totally turn me away from the plate?)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (in both chocolate and strawberry)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash (I've had what my mom called goulash, an American dish of beef, onions, tomatoes, and noodles, with as many variations as there are moms... I think in the Midwest it's known as "hot dish" and includes cream of mushroom soup. But real goulash? Not yet, it's on my list)
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano (usually includes peanuts)
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta (which I mischievously like to call Italian cornmeal mush in Phil's memory)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake (I think so but I can't quite remember - I know we had Rocky Mountain Oysters at that restaurant, but also a lot of booze)

I've eaten 54 items on this list, with four maybes, and nine I will never eat (though two of these are things to which I'm allergic). I'm willing to try things, usually, at least once, and often again after a few years to see if I've changed my mind.