Sunday, January 30, 2011

Very Good Taste Omnivore's List of 100 Foods

The Internet is an amazing thing.  Do you ever stop to think how amazing it is that, in a few key strokes, you can visit another person's blog and get a taste of what their life is like... in Canada, in France, in Finland, in Australia... different states within the United States of America.   From my blogs, you can tell I like to cook & bake and I like to knit and crochet.  I enjoy looking at blogs written by people who enjoy the same hobbies.  Thousands of miles may separate us, but our interests are the same.  This makes the world seem a little smaller some how.

I stumbled across this list entitled "The Very Good Taste Omnivore's Hundred" several months ago and just ran across it again. It's from a blog called Very Good Taste which appears to be written by a person from the United Kingdom.  If you want to see the blog and see how the blogger came of up with the foods on the list, click HERE.  It's quite a list and there are lots of things on this list I've never heard of, let alone had the opportunity to try.  Then again, there are things on the list I really have no interest in trying if given the opportunity.

For whatever reason, I felt compelled to post about this list on my blog today.  I underlined and highlighted the foods I've tried.  When I go through this list, I can't help but think about how my eating habits have changed over the years.  Also, is it weird that, when I review this list, I have very vivid memories of where I was or what I was doing when I last had these foods?

How long has it been since I had a Hostess Pie? (loved them as a kid, but now... yuck!).  When I had cheese fondue the last time, who made it? (my Mom made great Swiss cheese fondue back in the 70's and early 80's... our fondue pot was in Harvest Gold or was it Avocado... oh, the 70's!).  Where was I when I had a hot dog from a food cart? (Chicago! Definitely Chicago on the Navy Pier!).  When did I have calamari? (at the Steakhouse in Bronco Billy's Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado... my husband and I actually went on a date... when was that... it was years ago!  And I know I had calamari only one other time and that was on the Pier in San Francisco, California, when I met my mother-in-law for the first time).  When did I eat fresh berries? (of course... at the top of the Newlin Creek Trail outside of Florence, Colorado... the raspberries growing by the creek side were delicious and so satisfying after the long hike up the mountain.  And as a kid, fresh blackberries grew like mad all over the place near our home in Oregon).  Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl? (on the Oregon coast).  I finally got to try spaetzel which is something I've wanted to try for years (at the Edelweiss Restaurant in Colorado Springs, Colorado, just before Christmas 2010... a special night out for the family).

What food(s) on the list do I most want to try?  We are contemplating a family vacation to New Orleans, Louisiana, sometime in 2011... I want to have beignets at Cafe DuMonde in New Orleans... I bet I could find some good gumbo in New Orleans as well.  Here's the list; maybe as you read through it, you'll enjoy reminiscing as much as I did.

The Very Good Taste (VGT) Omnivore’s Hundred


1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
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
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 (not what you think!)
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

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