I saw this tag on Book-Wyrm-Knits and thought it looked like fun. The original tag was posted by a blog called Very Good Taste, which is no longer online. To quote Nicole’s post, “The tag is the Omnivore’s Hundred, a foodie tag where you take a list of 100 items and mark off which ones you’ve tried.”
The rules:
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.The reasoning for the list, as provided by Very Good Taste way back when:
Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognize everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.
Nicole also indicated which ones she has no intention of trying. I’ve done the same. As you’ll see, I have some dietary restrictions that prevent me from trying some of these, so I added my own substitutions below.
The Omnivore’s Hundred
1. Venison ✓
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros – I’m allergic to tomatoes
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 – a cauliflower and potato curry. Sounds good!
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 – I’m allergic to tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries ✓
23. Foie gras ✓
24. Rice and beans ✓
25. Brawn, or head cheese – ew?
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper – my stomach (and taste buds) can’t handle highly spicy food
27. Dulce de leche ✓
28. Oysters ✓
29. Baklava ✓
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl – I’ve had the chowder, and I’ve had soup in a bread bowl, but not specifically this combo
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut ✓
35. Root beer float ✓
36. Cognac with a fat cigar – I don’t smoke, so the cigar is out. I think I’ve tried cognac, but can’t remember for certain
37. Clotted cream tea ✓ – a cream tea is afternoon tea with scones, cream (clotted if possible) and jam. Clotted cream is like whipped cream, but creamier and more flavorful
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo – I’m allergic to tomatoes
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects – not even going to try them
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk – I’ve had goat cheese, but not goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more ✓ – thanks to my stepdad, who was given a great scotch as a gift (I think it was worth that much, with inflation)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala – again with the tomatoes!
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut ✓
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear – I’ve had prickly pear ice cream, but not prickly pear itself
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal ✓ – without the special sauce
56. Spaetzle ✓
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV ✓
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips ✓
61. S’mores✓
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin – why would I eat clay?
64. Currywurst – the sauce has tomato in it, so No.
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake ✓
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain✓
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho – tomato again
72. Caviar ✓ and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost – it’s delicious!
75. Roadkill –does this even need an explanation? Ugh.
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie ✓
78. Snail✓
79. Lapsang souchong tea ✓
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant – no, but that would be fun
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash✓ – my mom’s recipe has no tomato
88. Flowers✓ – marigolds/nasturtium, candied violets, candied rose petal
89. Horse – sorry; I like to ride them, not eat them
90. Criollo chocolate – not that I know of
91. Spam✓
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish✓
95. Mole poblano – yet more tomatoes
96. Bagel and lox ✓
97. Lobster Thermidor – I’ve eaten lobster, but not this recipe
98. Polenta ✓
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee – coffee does a number on my insides
100. Snake✓ – I was coerced into trying rattlesnake. Yes, it tastes sort of like chicken. No, I won’t eat it again.
My total is a whopping 38 out of 100. Not very adventurous for 55+ years of eating. Clearly, I need to branch out a bit!
But because of my dietary issues, there are nine things on the list that I actually can’t have, so I hereby declare that I get to substitute 9 other foods for them. I chose things I’ve always wanted to try, or things I think should have been on the original list.
3. Cornish pasty ✓
21. Scotch egg
26. Bison ✓
39. Sushi
47. Falafel
64. Dom Perignon – is it really all that?
71. Bara brith ✓
95. Syllabub
99. Wassail
Nicole
Fun answers! I’m glad you thought the tag was fun enough to do also. 🙂 I’m with you on the roadkill and the bugs. Some things are just not for eating.
That sucks that you can’t have tomatoes. 🙁 Food allergies are no fun. I agree with your substitutions, though. Of those, I’ve had Cornish pasty (the Ren Faire version), bison (in burger form), sushi, and falafel.
And Scotch eggs do not sound appetizing to me. (They are appropriate for the list, though.)
Nicole recently posted…The Omnivore’s Hundred tag
Lark_Bookwyrm
That’s okay; more Scotch eggs for me! 😉
I found out about my tomato allergy in college. It was tough giving up some foods, but it’s been worth it because I feel better and have more energy… and there are alternatives. I make a yummy tomato-free pizza (Italian sausage, mushrooms, red peppers, lots of cheese—delicious!) Chicken lasagna isn’t bad, either. And for some pasta dishes, I can substitute pesto for the tomato sauce.
Nicole
At least there are options for alternatives! Still, I love tomatoes, so it would be hard to have discovered an allergy to them in college. Feeling better and having more energy wins over tomatoes, though. I don’t think there’s any doubt that giving them up was the right choice.
Lark_Bookwyrm
No doubt in my mind, either!
Lark
Fun list! I’d have to pass on all the alcohol-included foods ’cause I don’t drink. 🙂
Lark_Bookwyrm
I think that would entitle you to make list substitutions, like I did. 🙂
sjhigbee
Oh this one sounds like fun! I am now vegetarian so that would cut out a whole tranche of the meat-based foods I haven’t yet sampled. However, I have only relatively recently stopped eating meat, so for instance, haggis and (sadly) spam are foodstuffs I recall eating. In fact a local supermarket do a veggie Haggis which is very tasty and not a million miles away from the original…
Lark_Bookwyrm
Yes, the list is definitely not geared toward people with dietary restrictions, whether voluntary, involuntary, or religious. Feel free to make substitutions if you do the tag!
Aleen @ Lampshade Reader
Fun post. Yea, hard pass on the roadkill.
Aleen @ Lampshade Reader recently posted…Guest Post: Rich Girl, Poor Girl in 1908 by Jennifer Kincheloe
Lark_Bookwyrm
The idea of eating roadkill just makes me shudder.