Friday, August 22, 2008

The Omnivore's 100

So, I'm surfing the internet the other day and I come across this list called the Ominvore's Hundred, which originated from a blog called Very Good Taste. Being a somewhat newly-minted omnivore, I thought I'd give it a whirl. What you do is cut and paste the list, then bold the ones you've eaten. I did pretty well, if we're being graded on it, 75 out of 100. What's that? Like a C+? I guess that makes me an average omnivore.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (does alligator count?)
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
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 (it was at least 20 years ago, I swear)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores (these are gross, I don't get what the fuss is about)
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (only the ice cream and I could barely swallow it)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (all of them, thanks)
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

While this was an amusing exercise, I have to say that when reading the list it's fairly obvious that it was written by someone British. Asking an American if they've ever had a pb&j sandwich is like asking them if they've ever tried breathing oxygen. And only a British person would think a Hostess fruit pie would be worth mentioning on any sort of list at all. So, I'm working on my own list and I'll post that next...