The Omnivore's Hundred - Just Hungry version

If you follow me on Twitter you may know that today was not a good day (nor was it a particularly good week). So, this little distraction via @nandita comes at a great time. It is a meme, but is a good one! It is called...

The Omnivore's Hundred

1) Copy this 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. (I've marked ones I really love in red)
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at Very Good Taste linking to your results.

So, here I present...

The Just Hungry Omnivore’s Hundred

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (I actually love steak tartare, when it's really really fresh. Also love beef carpaccio.)
5. Crocodile (Not a big fan...it's like tough fishy bland chicken)
6. Black pudding (Love the English kind, with chunks of fat in it and fried! Not a huge fan of the boiled kind.)
7. Cheese fondue (Well duh... I do miss Martha's first rate fondue :()
8. Carp (Carp was a festive feast fish but nowadays it is mainly ornamental in Japan (people use a whole sea bream. Carp is still a symbol of strength and well-being, and on Children's Day (May 5th) households with little boys put up koinobori, wind socks that look like carp.)
9. Borscht (Love a good borscht)
10. Baba ghanoush (Love just about anything with eggplant)
11. Calamari (Love...eh am I getting redundant?)
12. Pho (Have not had Vietnamese food in ages...)
13. PB&J sandwich (an urge for one comes over me about once every 3 years)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (though the best imho is just off the street)
16. Epoisses (there are very few named cheeses in France or Switzerland I haven't tried... :o)
17. Black truffle (and how)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (there's a great sparkling apple wine made by a farmer not 2 minutes from here. Also have had lots of fruit-flavored schapps)
19. Steamed pork buns (my much linked to recipe!)
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes (every day in the summer)
22. Fresh wild berries (we have wild strawberries in the garden. Also have had wild blackberries)
23. Foie gras (Once I ate a whole half poached foie gras by myself. I later became violently sick. Learned my lesson.)
24. Rice and beans (in many forms)
25. Brawn, or head cheese (I kind of like the gelatinousness)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (yes once, by mistake...)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters (raw oysters are fine, but have you ever had a deep fried oyster?)
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas (rather overrated imho)
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (lassi in all forms I love)
34. Sauerkraut (not a big fan)
35. Root beer float (I actually love root beer. All my Japanese and European friends and family think I'm nuts.)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Please, a cigar is not food)
37. Clotted cream tea (Clotted cream that is thick and yellow...yummo)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo (Love New Orleans...must go back soon)
40. Oxtail (My mother used to make a mean oxtail stew)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (sweet-salty grasshoppers (tsukudani) and bee larvae (hachi no ko) in Japan)
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk (better as yogurt)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more (my stepfather is a whisky connaisseur)
46. Fugu (but without the added zing of poison :) it's quite bland really, but the texture is what fugu fanatics love)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel (I couldn't eat eel for a long time when I was a kid - it made me sick. Have since learned to appreciate it.)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (overrated)
50. Sea urchin (as sushi, or as an appetizer. Fresh with a little yuzu or lemon is the best.)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (umeboshi onigiri, the flavor of my grandmother)
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (A Big Mac urge also occurs about once every 2 years)
56. Spaetzle (another 'duh' item for anyone living in Switzerland/Germany/Austria)
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (used to have a Canadian BF...don't remind me)
60. Carob chips (why is this on the list?)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (I had them for the first time oddly enough at Epcot)
63. Kaolin (during one of my healthy-nutty phases)
64. Currywurst (tweeted about this recently...it's one of the saddest snacks on the face of the earth. urgh.)
65. Durian (yep, it stinks)
66. Frogs’ legs (love a good frog's leg plate. Best I've had was at the Restaurant Buerhiesel in Strasbourg, when it was still under the care of Antoine Westermann, papa of the current chef. Which reminds me I need to get back there again!)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (All of the above...omg)
68. Haggis (even the 'vegetarian' version, which is served at some Indian restaurants in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and is not that bad really)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (not too fond of the te xture...)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (What can I say...caviar is heaven)
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (this often appeared at breakfast in Norwegian hotels...it is pretty bad)
75. Roadkill (not knowingly...)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (heaven in a glass)
81. Tom yum (very popular these days in Japan...you can get instant versions)
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky (I'm not a big fan of Pocky and don't see why people make a big deal out of it...)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (not in the past year tho....last time was at The Fat Duck I think)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (though I do feel bad about eating..bunnyyy)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (Nasturtiums are very nice in a salad)
89. Horse (they eat horse sashimi in Japan, honest :) They also have cured horsemeat in Switzerland :))
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (do not like)
92. Soft shell crab (overrated)
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (oh I miss Ess-A-Bagel...)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta (another food that is so common it's 'meh' around these parts)
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (this is the 'ultimate' coffee in Japan, but the best cup of Blue Mountain is at the Schwarzenbach in Zürich)
100. Snake

So let's see...I think I have scored 97.5. I am not totally against eating snake, if the occasion should arise, and if the roadkill is nice and fresh maybe...but refuse to smoke cigars, or consider them to be food.

So there you are. How about you?

Have a great weekend!

(Edit/added a bit later: This list is quite Anglo-American, as is explained. So by no means does it really represent what an omnivore might eat anywhere in the world - not even in the non-British parts of Europe, as was brought up when I showed this list tonight to some Swiss peeps. It's interesting anyway, and a good talking point!)