Eli Cooks

This meme comes from Very Good Taste (although I found it through Chocolate and Zucchini.) The basic idea is that it’s a list of 100 things any omnivore should try in their lifetime. I thought it looked interesting, so I’m sharing my results here.  Since the original intent of the list was to spark conversation about food, I’ve included a few suggestions of what I might add after the list.

The rules:

1. Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2. Bold all the items you’ve eaten. (And as Clotilde suggested, I added * to the items I’m particularly fond of.  And I added ** to the items I really want to try/am somewhat ashamed I havent tried already)
3. Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

I’m only missing 30 of the 100 items.  Considering how varied the list is (and how many years I have left to work on finishing it), I think that’s pretty damn good.

The List:

1. Venison*

2. Nettle tea

3. Huevos rancheros

4. Steak tartare**

5. Crocodile – I can’t actually remember if I’ve had crocodile or alligator, but either way, close enough, right?

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 – I just don’t see the allure.

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 – I hate cigars, although I could go for the cognac

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 – I’m not sure I’d be willing to risk death for a meal, although I’d be quite interested in trying some of the new(ish) non-toxic 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 – I have had durian candy, and it was vile enough that I have no desire to try the “real thing”.  Then again, I was just reading today that frozen durian has much less…stank, so that might be an option.

66. Frogs’ legs

67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake* (I’ve had and enjoy all of the above.)

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

My suggested additions

1. Galbi – The flavor is awesome, and the experience of grilling your own food on a little grill set in the middle of your table at a restaurant is one everyone should have.
2. A ripe tomato, fresh off the vine and sun-warmed – I know tomatoes are already on the list, but this really is a different experience.  The amazing freshness and warm mouth-filling juiciness…  I’ve tried to reproduce this with tomatoes from a farmers market, but even those just aren’t the same.
3. Wild boar – It’s amazing how much wild boar tastes just like pork, and yet how different it is at the same time.  It’s a great way to see just how much farming our meat instead of hunting it effects the flavor.
4. White beans with ham – There were no beans of any kind on the list, and that’s just not right.  I had to think pretty hard about just what form the beans should take, but I think this is it.
5. Bacon – nuff said
6. Grilled Pineapple – Sooooo good.  For that matter, any grilled fruit is great.
7. Lambic – It’s beer, and yet unlike what most people think of as beer.  Another one to stretch and challenge assumptions