I'm a little late on this meme. I've been hesitating because I knew that I would be absolutely haunted by anything I hadn't yet tried. And I was right - it drives me nuts. Damn me for missing that time Karen brought over a durian, even though it did turn out to be a little rotten! Maybe I can make bagna cauda tonight! Why didn't I shell out for the kobe beef last time I went out to shabu shabu?! The truth is, the list of things I want to try is much, much longer than 100 items, and I should feel no more guilty about having not yet eaten lobster thermidor than beef wellington just because of this list, but somehow, it doesn't work that way. Don't even get me started on how the 100 Japanese Foods to Try list makes me feel!
Before I share my list, here are my choices for what got left off the list - I limited myself to five:
Ethiopian peanut stew seasoned with berbere and served with injera
A really good croissant
Xiao long bao
Sul lang tang, or another long-cooked bone broth
A real So Cal burrito, from a truck in LA - and it doesn't count if the beans aren't refried with lard!
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (Alligator count?)
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
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
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 (although it was before I really appreciated it, I think. At the time, I was pretty disturbed by its distinct flavor, and the fresh-from-the-goat temperature, but the memory of the flavor has actually become one of my favorites)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (only worth eating within 90 seconds from removal from the conveyor belt)
50. Sea urchin (Right from the shell)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald's Big Mac Meal (Only so you know what you're avoiding the rest of the time. Fine, the fries are ok.)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (DIRTY?!?! Why don't you just have a cosmo?)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips (I always felt bad for a girl in my elementary school with food allergies who had carob chip cookies in her lunch every day. Carob is fine, but it's just not chocolate, and it's cruel to demand that a child pretend it is!)
61. S'mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (Although I had to look it up - maybe this is why Kaopectate never tastes the way I remember from when I was a kid?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs' legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (Don't forget fried dough, loukoumathes, zeppoli, sopaipillas.....)
68. Haggis (The very very top of my to-try list)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. UPDATE 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 (They're good, but there are so many more interesting things!)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (Wait, does rabbit count? I've had that...)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish (In my top 10 meals ever: pecan-crusted catfish in New Orleans)
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Didn't we cook Bagna cauda at our house like 6 years ago. Though it was probably poorly made.
If you did, I wasn't there - unfortunately for me, as everything you've ever cooked for me has been amazing!
Re: no. 60 - when we were kids, instead of chocolate milk, mom gave us "carob milk". Borderline child abuse!
HA! Everyone made fun of me and wrinkled their noses at the (admittedly fetid) durian. I knew you'd rue the day!
(FYI, any reputable Asian market should have durian for you to buy. At least in SoCal. If you'd like to have a little durian party next time you're out this way, gimme a call.)
Also, I'm quite flattered to make not one but TWO appearances in your blog entries - only this one by name, but I can't resist announcing that it was I who insisted that sauerkraut is a fermented product. :)
I rued the day immediately! I never see durian out here, but that doesn't mean it's not around - I go to the Asian market in my neighborhood about once a month, but don't generally make it out to the further ones. It was indeed you who knew the answer to the sauerkraut mystery - it is funny to think back to those days and how I couldn't wrap my head around the idea that pickling was the same as fermenting, and how long it took me to really understand the process... and now I have at least four things fermenting in my kitchen right this second!
I see durian all the time in chinatown! You must come visit soon and we will hunt some down. I have to say, I pride myself on my fearless eating, but when I had durian in Thailand, it was an act of pure will to swallow one bite. I was amazed at how my gag reflex kicked in, unbidden, and declared, "DO NOT WANT! IS PUTRID!"
I have to commiserate, Sue, about carob-related child abuse. My mom used to let us get pastries after we went grocery shopping at the hippie food co-op, but all the "chocolate" filled ones were actually carob. What a travesty.
Hey and don't knock the dirty martini! There are not enough salty drinks in this world as it is.