Posts from — August 2008

Here’s a cool meme that’s been going around that triggers the bragging instinct in every foodie geek. I’ve seen it on many sites, but it originated here as The Omnivore’s Hundred, a subjective list of 100 food items( (not all gourmet, but all “iconic” in their way) that Andrew Wheeler, co-author of the British food blog Very Good Taste, thinks every omnivore should try at least once in her or his life.

Here are 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.
4. Optional extra: post a comment on Very Good Taste, linking to your results.

My list is below. I’ve added some comments here and there after some items for context.

I’ve tried 70 items on the list–pretty damn good. I am missing 30 items, but most of them I’d try if the opportunity arose. Nothing on the list scares me; some of them I don’t get why anyone would want to try, because they don’t really seem like “food” to me, but I wouldn’t hesitate to try them, anyway. I’ve crossed out only the extreme chili-based foods, pretty much, because my genetics gave me no tolerance for them at ALL. However, given the choice of chili or death, I’d eat even the chilis. 

So how many can you boast? If you do this one on your blog, let me know in the comments so I can check it out.  If you don’t have a blog, you can always put your list in the comments. And do you think he left anything out that you’d add?

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros (not tried only because of my inability to tolerate chilis, but I’ve had similar egg blends that weren’t quite the traditional dish)
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile (I have had alligator, though)
6. Black pudding  (in Spain, went under a different name)
7. Cheese fondue (oh, so many times)
8. Carp (in the form of gefilte fish)
9. Borscht (my grandmother was Russian)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Phở
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 (plum wine and mead–well, okay, honey isn’t technically a fruit, but I feel the need to mention it)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream (but I didn’t like it when I tried it as a kid and haven’t had it since…wonder if I should try again)
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (wild raspberries and blackberries along hiking trails in Oregon)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (again, I am unable to eat chilis, otherwise I’d try it)
27. Dulce de leche (I’ve had it as ice cream, but not the traditional dish)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (I’d never even heard of this before, and now I’m desperate to try it. Where does one find it?)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (I’ve had plain and mango lassi, but not salted)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float (I may have had a tiny taste of someone’s as a kid, but I hate soda, so, not counting this one)
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (cognac, but no cigar)
37. Clotted cream tea (have had clotted cream, but not in tea…?)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo 
40. Oxtail (in soup)
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (cicada)
43. Phaal (again, chilis. sigh.)
44. Goat’s milk (in cheese, but not liquid form)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/€80/$120 or more (oh yes. yes, yes.)
46. Fugu (I’d only eat from a very reputable chef)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel 
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut* (why do people keep insisting these are better than other donut shops’ donuts? They’re not.)
50. Sea urchin (yes, yes, yes!)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (in sushi, but I can’t even remember what i tasted like)
54. Paneer (mixed into Indian dishes)
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal 
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini (hate gin. Dirty VODKA martini, yes.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (I would love to try this, but have never come across it)
60. Carob chips (in every trail mix in the 70s)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin (Huh? I guess I’d try it, but…is this technically a food? I thought it was a digestive additive. I’ve never even heard it’s had a distinct taste. What’s the point?)
64. Currywurst (never even heard of it before)
65. Durian (I’ve had durian-flavored gelato, but not the fruit itself)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (no, yes, yes, and yes)
68. Haggis (both original and vegetarian!)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (but I have had kishka, which is kind of the Jewish equivalent)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (I haven’t had the traditional sugar preparation, but I’ve had lots of absinthe, so I’m counting it)
74. Gjetost, or brunost (LOVE it)
75. Roadkill (only if I were desperate, and it would depend on what the roadkill was exactly, but I’m loathe to say never, so I won’t cross it out)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (I think)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (I can’t remember, but there’s a possibility I’ve had this)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse (I wasn’t going to cross this out, but every time I thought about trying it, I got a queasy feeling. Who knew this would be my one gross-out factor, even above roadkill? I guess, like roadkill, I’d eat it if I were desperate, though.)
90. Criollo chocolate (I would assume so)
91. Spam 
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (chilis)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox (please. hello?)
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (it’s likely, but I rarely pay attention to the kind of drip coffee I’m served; I only really like espresso)
100. Snake (in soup)

Okay, so I have been thinking about this for a while and I think very much want to live in San Franciso. But I would also need to be able to make very regular visits to the east coast. (With some extra time to travel other places occasionally, too.) Which would mean I’d need an affordable place to live (in a non-lethal area, please), a lot of time flexibility (an ideally lots of time flexibility so I could do creative projects), and I’d need to find a way to afford the back and forth travel. Whether that’s through becoming someone’s Kato Kaelin, house sitting, just getting good rent, being gifted a house, free airline points, getting some tip-offs from acquaintances in the travel industry, receiving massive windfalls of cash, or some other solution…well, I won’t say it’s irrelevant, because I’d love boatloads of cash most, but I’m open to any solution.

Given I’m not rich (yet), I just can’t figure out how to make this idea work. And I’ve been tossing it around in my brain for almost a year now. I need some help. Any ideas or suggestions? What could I do? How could I make all this possible?

In a best case scenario, I’m not looking for extremely general, daydream ideas like “you could get invited to be caretaker of a rich person’s house while they’re in Europe for two years;” or “you could find a writer’s retreat that will house and feed you for a year.” I am really in need of moving to the next step–I need some real, practical solutions for how to FIND that rich person, or that retreat (just two of many examples).

I’ve always been such a resourceful person, and I find myself at a loss. And this frustrates me. I’m hoping if I put my wish out to the universe, the universe will find a way to answer me.

The universe, and you, that is. Any and all ideas and offers will be most welcome.

1. Having to use uncomfortable, understuffed couches from multiple decades ago because I can’t afford grown-up furniture
2. Feeling unmotivated
3. Wondering why I don’t write
4. Procrastinating
5. Cat hair fucking everywhere
6. Hearing excuses from people
7. Not feeling attractive
8. Avoiding taking dance classes because I think I’m too fat to be accepted
9. Sitting around waiting for something to happen
10. Worrying about money
11. Not feeling like I’m engaged enough in life
12. Sushi. I’ll still eat it, but the novelty is completely gone. I’ve tried pretty much everything.
13. Feeling guilty that I don’t want to be in a relationship while wanting love and affection and sex
14. Hair maintenance
15. Skin breakouts
16. Not having enough money or time to myself
17. Attracting (active) (unconcerned) addicts
18. Secrets
19. Weighing myself
20. Feeling detatched
21. Feeling like all men are untrustworthy and eventually show their true colors
22. Work

At times like this when I’m exhausted but can’t sleep, and too exhausted to concentrate fully on anything heavy, I turn to metafilter for entertainment. Just now the site pointed me to “What Book Got You Hooked”–where a nonprofit has a list of celebrities explaining what book first ignited their reading passion.

This in turn got me thinking of all my favorite picture books when I was a little kid. Of course, like every kid, I was a big Dr. Seuss fan, but here I’ll feature a few titles that don’t seem to be around much anymore.

Miss Twiggley’s Tree – A story in rhyme about an eccentric reclusive woman who lived in a treehouse with a bevvy of talented animals and a color TV. She’s misunderstood and talked about judgmentally by all the townspeople, until she saves all their asses during a flood and they finally figure out that different can actually be cool rather than scary. I loved this book and can still quote parts of it. Quite obviously, my sense of kinship with freaks and outsiders developed early.

How Fletcher Was Hatched – A dog feels neglected by his young female owner, who’s too busy cooing over the newly born chicks to pay attention to him. So he (naturally) devises a scheme to hatch out of an egg to regain her love. Quite obviously, my sense of kinship with freaks and outsiders developed early. Ahem.

The Magic Friend Maker – About a girl who is has just moved to the city (there’s that outsider theme again) who ultimately makes a best friend with the aid of a “magic” rock. 

The Lonely Doll (and following sequels) – A story told in words and black-and-white photographs of a lonely doll named Edith and two teddy bears (Mr. Bear and Little Bear) living in New York City. Reading it as an adult, I was surprised by how completely haunting many of the images appeared and how creepy and sometimes depressive-seeming a lot of these books were. But I loved them at the time, and the photography is beautiful. I particularly loved the one Lonely Doll book where Edith and Little Bear picket City Hall.

So, did any of you read any of these? What picture books were you obsessed with as a small kid? Links to the books appreciated, so I can check ‘em out!