Very Good Taste, Indeed!

I bring you The Ominvore's Hundred from Clothilde at Chocolate & Zucchini, one of blogs I regularly read. She brought it from Andrew at Very Good Taste, who describes the list as the 100 things that every omnivore should try at least once. There are some things that are obviously based on cultural differences: Clothilde is French and Andrew is British, so they have a decidedly European view of what is an unusual food—I, for instance, don't feel that a Hostess fruit pie is a must-try... a 4-inch Bama Pecan Pie tart, on the other hand...

Here are the rules for using this list:
1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten (mine are in also red and, following Clothilde's example—and because I'm incapable of withholding my opinion—I'll be commenting on the items as the spirit moves me).
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating. (check here if you need the HTML code for strikeout)
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

1. Venison (at a North Texas State University theater cast party; the deer was shot by our director, Dr. Stanley Hamilton, who hunted with a bow and arrow).
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (so many times!)
4. Steak tartare (not yet... but some day, maybe...)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding (aka, blood pudding... not anxious to try it but I'm not opposed...)
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp (at least, I'm pretty sure I have... so many freshwater fishes over the years...)
9. Borscht (I had a roommate whose mother was Ukranian... I can't imagine I'll ever have better!)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (you gotta start eating them early to fully appreciate the perfection of this food)
14. Aloo gobi (I live on Curry Lane in NYC, of course I've had it!)
15. Hot dog from a street cart (rat-droppings, schmat-droppings: dese t'ings are good eatin')
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (elderberry, made by a friend of Catherine's brother in Cornwall)
19. Steamed pork buns (no Sunday brunch in Chinatown is complete without them)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (picked with our own hands on our grandparents' farm in Jasper, MO)
23. Foie gras (I've had paté, but I don't think I'll ever be having this. Yes: I have a problem with force feeding geese to make their livers fat; find another way to make it and I'd be happy to give it a try...)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (my days of eating anything this hot are over)
27. Dulce de leche (oddly enough, I haven't had it yet... but I've no doubt I will)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cáuda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut (what else are you gonna eat on the street vendor hot dog?!)
35. Root beer float (but to be truly authentic, it has to be from an A&W drive-in)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (I've had them separately, but not together... I did, however, once have Rémy Martin Louis XIII: pure drinking heaven!)
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O shots (yeah, maybe if I done them when I was in my 20s...)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (this doesn't sound gross at all to me... unless we're talking raw, in which case I think I'll pass)
43. Phaal (I don't eat vindaloo anymore—I'm not having this!)
44. Goat’s milk (I don't like milk, so this one seems unlikely... I've had goat's milk cheese and yogurt, though)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (to date, I've only made it into the $85/bottle range... to date....)
46. Fugu (there are so many wonderful foods that won't kill me immediately... and really: how good can it be?)
47. Chicken tikka masala (see no. 14 above)
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (imho, they're okay but not the greatest-thing-since-sliced-bread they're made out to be...)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer (see no. 14 above)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (I hope never to have one again, but I've certainly had more than my fair share)
56. Spätzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV (I haven't had many, but I know I've had this one)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (I never had it by itself, but Kaopectate was my mother's favorite stomach ache cure when I was growing up)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (wikipedia has this one right: a fried dough is a dough is a dough is a dough is a dough is a dough...)
68. Haggis (I'm not afraid... but I'm not seeking it out, either)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (had it the HERE Arts Center's grand reopening recently... and now I don't have to have it again.)
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill (you're saying I should have this? If it was the only way to survive, sure, but as a choice? No, thank you...)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (our friends Kim and Bob's 6-year-old, Baird, is a HUGE escargot fan but I haven't had them yet...)
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (Catherine has had them at benefits at The Rainbow Room; I've been to The Rainbow Room but I was working a benefit, so I haven't had one of theirs...)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (truth be told, I'm not a big fan of it, really)
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (I can't imagine that I would ever spend that much money on a meal—at least $250 per person and probably more—but who knows?...)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (had rabbit but not hare)
87. Goulash (my mother used to make an excellent dish that she called goulash but it wasn't the Real McCoy)
88. Flowers
89. Horse (never say never, of course, but as of this writing, I'm not interested...)
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (those lips, those eyes... sorry, couldn't resist!)
92. Soft shell crab (I've never done the crack them open with a hammer meal, but I have had the food)
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (I live in New York: getouttaheah—'course I had it!)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (not yet... but I will!)
100. Snake

44 out of a hundred... better than I expected...