New Food Meme
I haven't done a meme in ages. This one is from Lemuel. I get the majority of my memes from him (thanks, Lem).
1) Bold all the items you have eaten.
2) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
1. Venison - Yes. It was stringy.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue – To quote cooking goddess Ann Hodgeman,"This seems like it’s been dusted with seventies powder. I expect to find it between the chocolate cheesecake and the Metrocal." But I like it anyway.
10. Baba ghanoush – Mmm. Eggplant. Love it.
11. Calamari - Yes. Meh.
12. Pho - Years ago in a Vientnamese restaurant. OK only.
13. PB&J sandwich – As a child I would have starved without this item. I still like them.
14. Aloo gobi – Yes, I LOVE Indian food.
15. Hot dog from a street cart – Yes, but not often. I really like them at the ballpark (Go Red Sox!)
16. Epoisses – Just recently. It was in a cheese flight that Chilmarrk Girl gave me for my last birthday. Not bad, though it was my least favorite cheese in the flight.
17. Black truffle – Never alone, but I’ve had it in things a bunch of times. A peak taste experience.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes – Yes, many times. Do I get extra points for having made my own elderberry, blackberry and apple wines?
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream – When I was a child, I was obsessed with the color green. This often meant eating pistachio ice cream, even though I wasn’t wild about it. I bet I’d like it better now.
21. Heirloom tomatoes - Yes, though I’m not a fan of raw tomatoes.
22. Fresh wild berries – Good god, yes. Life without them would be flat and colorless.
23. Foie gras - Only a few times. This is definitely a guilty pleasure, because I really like it. I even managed to have a bit during the time that it was illegal in Chicago.
24. Rice and beans - Yes.
25. Brawn, or head cheese – No, but I love the reference to this in George Carlin’s Picky Eater routine.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - I’ve tried a tiny bit of raw habeñero perpper, which is pretty much the same thing. Yowza! But they’re great in salsa.
27. Dulce de leche - Father, I have sinned. I have eaten Oreo cookies with dulce de leche in place of the crème filling. Given the opportunity, I’d do it again.
28. Oysters - Yes, raw, fried, and in soup. I could do without the raw. The others were good, but fried oysters are a distant second to fried clams.
30. Bagna cauda – Yes. My arteries are clogging just thinking about it.
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl – Can we talk? I’m a clam chowder snob. Growing up on the coast of Massachusetts will do that to you. Clam chowder is a sacramental food. It should never been eaten fron a sourdough bread bowl, and putting tomatoes in it is a crime against nature.
33. Salted lassi – A tiny sip. Yecch!
34. Sauerkraut – Yep. Never again.
35. Root beer float – Yes, and it’s been way too long. I’ve made both homemade root beer and homemade vanilla ice cream before. Those two really need to get together some time.
37. Clotted cream tea - Yes, in the Lakes District of England.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo – Yes, but never a really authentic one with filet powder. I’d really like to try that.
40. Oxtail - Yes. Oxtail soup is camping food.
41. Curried goat – Just recently. In St. Maartin on our curuise last winter, Someone (of Spo and Someone) had curried goat and let me try a bite. I was glad I got the conch fritters.
43. Phaal – No, but I have had other really hot curries. Lamb vindaloo is wonderful.
44. Goat’s milk – Only made into cheese.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - I don’t like whisky. This would be pearls before swine.
47. Chicken tikka masala - A big favorite of mine.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut – More than I would care to admit.
50. Sea urchin – Yes, as sushi. Meh.
51. Prickly pear – Yes, a bunch of ways. As candy, in Canada Dry Cactus Cooler soda. Chopped pads (not fruit) in salsa. The two best: prickly pear jelly from Kathie and a single prickly pear fruit carefully picked from a plant in Garden Canyon in the Huachuca Mountains and eaten on the trail while viewing a very rare butterfly.
53. Abalone – No, but I really want to try this.
54. Paneer – Yea. Among other things, it’s in Aloo Gobi.
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal – No. I eat cheeseburgers at McDonald’s. Big Macs have too much crap on them.
56. Spaetzle – Yes. Meh.
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
60. Carob chips - Yes.
61. S’mores – Yes. Among other places, over bonfires during winter Fen workdays. Did you know that Scrabulous accepts smore as a word?
63. Kaolin – You can eat kaolin?
65. Durian – No, but I will probably try it next year in Malaysia. But the fruit I really want to try there is mangosteen.
66. Frogs’ legs – Yes. Meh.
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - Yes to all four. Beignets were the best.
69. Fried plantain – Many times in Latin America. In Peru they were a delicious remedy for Athuhualpa’s revenge.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho – Yes. Meh.
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost – No, but I’ve had the closely related Myost. It was OK.
75. Roadkill .
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - Yes, I’m embarrassed about how many of these I had in my youth. Berry was my favorite. It’s been many years.
78. Snail – Yes. They’re a great excuse to eat garlic butter.
79. Lapsang souchong - Yes. Interesting occasionally, it would never be my regular cup of tea (so to speak).
80. Bellini – Yes. Surprisingly, only once, because I liked it.
81. Tom yum – Yes. Yum is the operative word here.
82. Eggs Benedict – Yes. OK only.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant – No, but I have done the tasting menu at Charlie Trotter’s, so I’ve come close.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare – If synonmous with rabbit, yea. If this refers to a true hare, then no.
87. Goulash -Yes.
88. Flowers – Yes, many times and kinds.
90. Criollo chocolate - Oh, my yes.
91. Spam – Yes. My most memorable: At a guest house on the island of Dominica, I was offered ham and eggs for breakfast. I got Spam and eggs. .
93. Rose harissa I’ve had both rose pudding and harissa, but never the two together. Harissa is a great spice.
94. Catfish – Yes.
95. Mole poblano – Good mole poblano is a sublime experience.
96. Bagel and lox - Yes.
98. Polenta – Yes. Uninspiring by itself, it’s a good vehicle for serving other things.
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee – I hate coffee.
100. Snake – Never had the opportunity, but I wouldn’t turn it down.
Bonus: What food item have you tried that should be on this list but isn't?
Cuy, or guinea pig. I had it during a trip to Peru in the early 1990s. It's served with the head, paws and claws still attached. I found it greasy and nasty.