The Omnivore's Hundred List - An Entertaining Diversion

Over at the UK food blog Very Good Taste, author Andrew Wheeler has come up with an admittedly arbitrary list of one hundred things a taste of which all omnivores should experience. I enjoy exercises like this one, and so here is my take on Mr. Wheeler's list.

If you'd like to participate on your own blog, here are the guidelines Mr. Wheeler has set forth:

1. Copy the 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 at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

And now, without any further ado - but with an occasional comment thrown in - is my annotated Omnivore's Hundred List:

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding - Well, kishka - the Polish version of black pudding, so it counts.
   
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 - Not something I'd recommend, really. I did it to see if they were really as hot as claimed. They are. You can take my word for it.
    
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - New England clam chowder is one of the great classic seafood dishes. Sourdough bowls are IMNSHO pretentious, twee, and so very 1980's.
    
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - I've also had beer and Parodis, LOL. By the way, fat cigars and cognac can also be enjoyed independently of one another.
    
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - I have eaten crickets and toasted mealworms, neither of which were enjoyable beyond the amusing disgust it inspired in observers. To be honest, the idea of eating insects is rather repulsive to me, which is illogical - after all, I enjoy lobsters, shrimp/prawns, and crabs, which are closely related.
    
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu - Never had the opportunity, but I would jump at it in a heartbeat.
    
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel - Although I have eaten it in the past, this is the only item on this list which I would currently never consider eating. The backstory to this is disgusting and personal enough that I don't care to share it here (but may, someday.)
    
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - They disgust me.
    
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 - Kaolin sounds like an exotic ingredient, does it not? Yet I am willing to bet that nearly every American over the age of 30 has consumed it, because it was one of the active ingredients in the original formulation of the over-the-counter anti-diarrheal medication Kaopectate (kaolin + pectin, see?) which many of us were given as children.
    
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 - In an interesting coincidence, over the past few weeks I have been actively seeking out absinthe in order to experience it now that it's legal once again to sell it in the US. Perhaps I will be editing this entry in the future to include it.
    
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill - Yes, in fact. I was the lucky recipient of the undamaged sections of a roadkill deer which was hit by a car and killed, then immediately dressed out as if it had been traditionally hunted. The venison was delicious.
    
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. - Someday, perhaps.
    
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 - Once, and once was enough. I much prefer lobster in the rough.
    
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

So there you have it. I've missed out on twelve items on the list (primarily of Indian cuisine because I am not very familiar with it,) and the only item that repulses me so thoroughly I won't consider eating is one that I formerly consumed before being put off of them perhaps forever.