the Omnivore's Hundred

[topaz]

I've been holding off this meme a bit. That's because so many of the foods listed here carry some kind of strong emotional memory. What I really want to do is to write a food memoir using these as triggers, with the slight hitch that I don't really have the time, and Nigel Slater has already done it, way better than I ever could.  I will probably write some expanded thoughts about some of these anyway.

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (like keyne, I think having had alligator is close enough)
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 cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly
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
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 (I think this is the only thing that I'd really absolutely draw the line at)
    
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

57 out of 100: not as good a showing as I thought I'd have.  I suspect there are dishes here that I have had and just don't remember: carp? curried goat? criollo chocolate?  Sure, possibly.  But there are certainly a lot of gaps in my culinary experience.

Comments

[moominmolly.livejournal.com]

if it were at all reasonable for me to do so, I'd claim dibs on giving you #16, 52, & 57 and then do it post haste!

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

You're hired!

[keyne.livejournal.com]

I am quite surprised by 52 (along with 2, 28, 40, 51, 92, and 97) because I'm fairly certain I had all those items in his company, and it would have been reasonable for him to at least taste if not share. (I'm fairly sure we had a prickly-pear "martini" at my birthday dinner, in fact.)

I will not quibble very much with 80, because he had the grace to try peaches, which he hates, but I'll note that the "bellini martini" we shared doesn't taste much like an actual bellini :-)

And 91? Tim Pierce has never had spam?!

[nitouche.livejournal.com]

Ooh, oysters. I'll feed you those :)

[innerdoggie.livejournal.com]

How come you haven't had oysters yet?

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

I will totally make curried goat and stewed oxtail for you if you want. :)

[dbang.livejournal.com]

You've never had oysters? Ever? Seriously? I'm surprised! (MMMM. Oysters.)

As for roadkill "I think this is the only thing that I'd really absolutely draw the line at", really? Does that include roadkill you kill yourself? I know lots of people who figure if you are going to hit a deer or moose and destroy both your car and its life, the least you can do is get some steaks out of it. I won't go so far as to say I HOPE I kill a deer with a car, but if I do, I know I'll be in venison for months.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

Never! Really. Not that I wouldn't try them, just.... I don't know, I never have.

As for hitting a deer or a moose with my car, my limited understanding of hunting is that once the beast is killed, it needs to be dressed properly very soon after death in order to avoid spoiling the meat. I do not have the knowledge or the skill to do any such thing.

So, ok, to your point, I agree that in principle I'd be willing to eat the remains of a large animal that I had accidentally hit with my car, if I had a high degree of confidence that it was salvaged safely. I just don't see that part as likely :-)

[dbang.livejournal.com]

Ah. Well from friends who have done this, if this ever happens to you, just leave it on the side of the road, drive on home and call someone who knows more about this (like the LJ brain trust). (take note of where you left it, of course) It isn't like it's a matter of MINUTES to get it dressed properly. heck, if it's winter and below freezing out, you can leave it quite a long time. if it's something smaller like a rabbit or wild turkey, I'd just stick it in the trunk, bring it home and pop it in the freezer while you find someone who knows what they are doing to help you out.

In addition to be willing to eat my own roadkill, I'd also be delighted to eat the roadkill of anyone else that I believe took steps to promptly freeze or refrigerate it.

[dbang.livejournal.com]

I keep wondering how long until our neighborhood turkey flock loses one to road hazards. They, um, aren't swift moving creatures.

[jss]

My understanding is they ain't all that swift-of-mind either.

[dbang.livejournal.com]

I heard the wild kind are at least brighter than the domestic kind. Low bar, that.

[jss]

Indeed. One might even say that was fainting with damned praise, or some such.

[dbang.livejournal.com]

FTW!

[docstrange.livejournal.com]

A New Yorker who has never had Sable Carp? For SHAME! ;-)

How about we put in a Zabar order and have a picnic? With CARP!

[lady-mishegas.livejournal.com]

Remember that paella we had in Spain? I always thought there were all sorts of meats in there... at the very least there was rabbit.

[keyne.livejournal.com]

He did check "hare" :)

[lady-mishegas.livejournal.com]

True. I was hoping Tim remembers 'cause they told us and I tried not to be horrified. I checked off hare too. I couldn't remember if there was snake in there.

It was 21 years ago, and there were flamenco dancers and a LOT of Sangria so my recollection is extremely hazy.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I don't remember what was in the paella! I checked "hare" because I know that in the last 10 years or so I've had rabbit pate (which was quite tasty). The paella in Toledo might well have had rabbit in it for all I know.

I'm pretty sure it didn't have snake in it, though. I think I'd have remembered that.

Really all I remember is the sangria.

[lady-mishegas.livejournal.com]

Not the flamenco dancers? I'm shocked.