nisaba: (Silly dining)
nisaba ([personal profile] nisaba) wrote2013-01-14 04:31 pm
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100 foods to eat before you die

A facebook app for foodies, stolen from facebook because I don't trust any apps there and there's no space for rambling. And where's the fun in that?

100 foods to eat before you die, compiled by someone on the internet. Foods I've tried in bold:

1. Abalone
2. Absinthe
3. Alligator - does crocodile count?
4. Baba Ghanoush
5. Bagel & Lox - Bagels yes, lox no. It doesn't help that I don't even know what it is.
6. Baklava
7. BBQ Ribs
8. Bellini

9. Birds Nest Soup - I'm not a big fan of soup, and this name isn't helping!
10. Biscuits & Gravy - I'm assuming American biscuits rather than tim-tams and gravy... either way, no.
11. Black Pudding
12. Black Truffle

13. Borscht
14. Calamari
15. Carp
16. Caviar
17. Cheese Fondue

18. Chicken & Waffles - I've had vegetarian sausage and waffles, if that counts?
19. Chicken Tikka Masala
20. Chile Relleno - another one I've never heard of
21. Chitlins - add to the list of unknowns...
22. Churros - omg yum. I thought I could eat churros until the cows come home, until last week when it seems the cows did come home and I was served a HUGE portion of churros at the cinema. I didn't even eat half.
23. Clam Chowder - I just can't get the hang of seafood.
24. Cognac
25. Crab Cakes - I've had crab, but I'm not a huge fan
26. Crickets - been offered them, seen other people eat them, still no
27. Currywurst
28. Dandelion Wine
29. Dulce De Leche

30. Durian - I've smelt durian. That was really, really enough.
31. Eel
32. Eggs Benedict - one of those dishes that makes me wish I liked eggs.
33. Fish Tacos - wut? Who would destroy tacos this way?
34. Foie Gras
35. Fresh Spring Rolls

36. Fried Catfish
37. Fried Green Tomatoes
38. Fried Plantain - hello ignorance, my old friend
39. Frito Pie - another on the long list of "what?"
40. Frogs' Legs
41. Fugu - whogu?
42. Funnel Cake
43. Gazpacho
44. Goat
45. Goat's Milk - plenty of goat's cheese, no milk
46. Goulash
47. Gumbo
48. Haggis
49. Head Cheese - this sounds so wrong
50. Heirloom Tomatoes - are they like red ones?
51. Honeycomb
52. Hostess Fruit Pie - I'm assuming hostess is some brand name, but I've never heard of this
53. Huevos Rancheros - I feel like I should know what this is, but I don't
54. Jerk Chicken
55. Kangaroo

56. Key Lime Pie
57. Kobe Beef
58. Lassi
59. Lobster
60. Mimosa

61. Moon Pie - couldn't even guess what this is
62. Morel Mushrooms
63. Nettle Tea - Tea. Ugh. No.
64. Octopus
65. Oxtail Soup
66. Paella
67. Paneer

68. Pastrami on Rye
69. Pavlova
70. Phaal - I fear the hot stuff
71. Philly Cheese Steak
72. Pho - pho?
73. Pineapple & Cottage Cheese - isn't this so 1970s?
74. Pistachio Ice Cream
75. Po' Boy
76. Pocky - what-ky?
77. Polenta
78. Prickly Pear - had prickly pear liqueur in cocktails
79. Rabbit Stew
80. Raw Oysters - ugh really no.
81. Root Beer Float
82. S'mores
83. Sauerkraut - for my sins
84. Sea Urchin
85. Shark
86. Snail
87. Snake
88. Soft Shell Crab
89. Som Tam - no idea
90. Spaetzle - also no idea
91. Spam
92. Squirrel
93. Steak Tartare - I don't think I'm brave enough for this
94. Sweet Potato Fries
95. Sweetbreads - definitely not brave enough for the most poorly named food ever
96. Tom Yum - again, no idea
97. Umeboshi - you know the drill
98. Venison
99. Wasabi Peas
100. Zucchini Flowers


40 in all. I'm not sure there's much on the un-eaten list that I'd want to try - I'm not a big fan of seafood, nuts, spicy food, or raw meat, which rules out a bunch that I have come across in my travels but not eaten. There's a lot I've never even heard of though. Pretty sure that for all I like good food, I basically fail as a foodie!

[identity profile] zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 07:56 am (UTC)(link)
Lox is smoked salmon.

Spaetzle is basically southern German macaroni cheese. I've only had our UK canteen's version of it so far, which wasn't much different from our macaroni cheese. (A German at the table said it looked authentic enough but he didn't taste it.) I am on a promise to be cooked proper Spaetzle by a southern German some time soon.

And you haven't had currywurst either? We should have had a ladies weekend in Berlin!

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 09:02 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm ok, so I've had loz, but I wouldn't have it again as I didn't like it!

I think I'm afraid of German macaroni and cheese. German food isn't known for being light and fluffy... I bet it's super tasty though.

I LOVE Berlin, I would have gone there like a shot, but if I remember right one of our party had a pathological hatred of Germany (that, I really should add, had nothing to do with any wars or any of the actual people. Just some bad travelling luck). I believe she's cured now, but a bit late for a ladies weekend! I was trying to remember if I had currywurst, I've had a few other wursts, but I figured I should leave it off so I have an excuse to try it again ;)

[identity profile] zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 09:07 am (UTC)(link)
I was trying to remember why we never did Berlin, it seems such an obvious place for us to have gone!

German food isn't light and fluffy but it's not stodgy either, not when it's good food anyway. I will report back when I have Spaetzle. :)

Did you know that Germany has more Michelin stars than anywhere except Japan and France? (A few of us got into an argument about British versus German food once, and we Brits rather unexpectedly lost badly!)

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 10:34 am (UTC)(link)
I had no idea Germany was such a gastro country. I mean, I've always eaten well there, but Michelin stars are a cut (or two...) above a bratwurst covered in cheese.

[identity profile] zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 11:06 am (UTC)(link)
Yeah, who knew! We were surprised!

The really odd thing is, very few of the Michelin starred restaurants are in the big cities, they're mostly in out of the way places.

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
Funnily enough I compared Spaetzle to macaroni cheese below... more for the "hearty and comforting" aspect. I've only had it a couple of times and both in the UK but Caron said it was fairly authentic and she should know.

[identity profile] zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, it's mostly cheese and pasta, it's an obvious comparison. :)

[identity profile] zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 06:03 pm (UTC)(link)
BTW, where did you have it? Katzenjammer?

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
Once at Katenjammer and once a small amount of Caron's helping from the 1907 Restaurant at Brooklands Hotel where we were this weekend.

I see what you mean that it's something like pasta with cheese hence macaroni and cheese is an obvious comparison but... well, it's definitely more like macaroni and whatever-macaroni-and-cheese cheese is than it is like (say) orecchiette and parmesan. It's got a comforting feel to it rather than a "this is posh nosh" feel to it.

[identity profile] zoo-music-girl.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 06:12 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah, gotcha. Yes, I see exactly what you mean. That's something I like about German food, it is generally comforting.

[identity profile] venta.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 11:30 am (UTC)(link)
I always find it quite interesting in these lists which foods people have/haven't heard of. OK, so the list is quite US-centric (I assume - with you on the Hostess Pie, Frito Pie and Moon Pie ignorance), but I'm surprised you wouldn't know what Tom Yum is as I think of it as pretty common in the UK.

Then again (it's Thai soup) - if you don't like soup, maybe it wouldn't really show up on your radar. Pho is a soupy sort of thing, too (Vietnamese).

I've got some umeboshi in the fridge at the moment - they're extremely sour pickled plums that show up in Japanese cookery.

Last time I saw one of these lists I had to look up Dulce de Leche, S'mores and heirloom tomatoes. (Turns out the last one is just like the equivalent of "rare breed", but for tomatoes). Also several kinds of cheese, which I hadn't heard of and which aren't on this list.

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 11:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm pretty bad with Asian food. I haven't really been exposed to much and generally I find I don't like it heaps so I don't search it out either. Tom Yum sounds like a great DJ name to me but that's it!

[identity profile] sheepthief.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 01:43 pm (UTC)(link)
No insects? No hakarl? Mind you, I'm quite happy with a cucmber sandwich, thanks all the same.

You should make it a meme where you add things to it. Have you not had those wichity grubs? (apologies for spelling).

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 11:53 pm (UTC)(link)
You can keep your cucumber sandwich! The only place cucumber has in my life is on crispy duck pancakes drowned in sauce.

I haven't had or even seen witchetty grubs. I think that's a experience I can live without though! Brave... not me.

[identity profile] inulro.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 01:53 pm (UTC)(link)
Huevos Rancheros are a Tex-Mex egg concoction for breakfast with stuff like salsa and guacamole. I practically lived on them when in the South Western US the other year.

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 11:55 pm (UTC)(link)
I had a breakfast burrito once. Not bad, but I couldn't do that sort of food every morning.

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 05:02 pm (UTC)(link)
Steak tartare doesn't require particular bravery, it's not a very extreme taste (not exactly bland but it's not like anyone would ever taste it and go "ooh, that's a strong taste").

Weirdly I had both spaetzle and steak tartare over the weekend (though I was only trying some of Caron's spaetzle). Spaetzle is good comfort food... to me it's sort of like macaroni cheese.

To my shame I've also eaten shark but I know better now and never would these days.

How have you never had pistachio ice-cream? It's lovely. Or key-lime pie for that matter.

You could probably do crab cakes and Tom Yum with a quick visit to a thai place -- both are lovely. (Crab cakes are not a strong "crab" taste). If you were lucky you could also get soft-shell crab too.

Sweetbreads, by the way, don't mean what some people think they mean... they refer to certain glands (thymus and another I forget), not usually testicles. They're pretty delicate tasting really.

I've only had dried Durian... like certain cheeses it really does taste much better than it smells but it's not amazing.

Because I'm the type who basically orders things on menus by habit if I don't know what it is or if I do but I've not had it, I guess I've noshed my way down about 2/3 or 3/4 of this list... of the ones I want to try, fugu is the top but it is super expensive... specially prepared porcupine fish contains a small dose of a toxin which is supposed to add to the taste (but alas is fatal if badly prepared in which case it contains a not-so-small dose of a toxin). It's ruinously expensive and can't legally be served in the EU unless you take steps to get round. More realistically I've never had kobe beef.

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-15 12:41 am (UTC)(link)
It's a mental block with steak tartare. Raw beef. I've managed to bring my "eww raw meat!" reaction down to the point where I prefer a medium rare steak, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that extra step. Maybe one day.

I think I've had shark as it's commonly sold in Aussie fish and chip shops as "flake". I haven't had it for years though as I don't really like most fish.

I don't like nuts, so I've assumed I wouldn't like pistachio ice cream. Also, those places usually also sell my favourite mint choc chip which I almost never say no to.

I'm sure I've even ever seen a key lime pie. For weird American pies I've had pumpkin pie though, that was pretty good.

I didn't think sweetbreads were testicles, I thought they were random internals that mostly sound gross to a wuss like me.

Did dried durian smell less? I've heard it doesn't taste like it smells but with that stench I don't think I could physically bring myself close enough to the fruit to take a bite out to find out.

I'm a creature of habit when it comes to ordering, although I've been trying to make myself be more adventurous the last few years which has added a huge amount to the list. 10 years ago I doubt I could have ticked 10 of the things on it. Fugu sounds like something you should definitely not try at home! Kobe beef means a trip to Japan, both are things I want to do. If Australia is too far, maybe we should meet in Japan one day for steak!

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-15 01:20 pm (UTC)(link)
"eww raw meat!"

Heh... you OK with sushi?

commonly sold in Aussie fish and chip shops as "flake"

Ah... that's not so bad... most of the things sold as "flake" are not particularly endangered though some sawsharks can be.


I don't like nuts, so I've assumed I wouldn't like pistachio ice cream.


Pistachio ice cream tastes more like the "green" taste in the pistachio rather than the "nut" taste. It's worth trying.


I'm sure I've even ever seen a key lime pie.


How weird... I mean they're a very common desert in the UK. Tesco, waitrose, sainsbury all sell their own version. It's like coming across someone who's never seen strudel or a swiss roll.

I thought they were random internals

Which they pretty much are... but I've never really "got" why people are squicky about organs. I can sort of see it with external organs like eyeballs or tongue which you're used to seeing and look kind of icky when in place and working... but "yuck, how can you eat a thalmus, I much prefer to tuck into the body of muscle tissue, particularly the gluteus maximus but abdominals if I can't get that"... weird preference no?

(Tongue is actually pretty nice but a bit fatty tasting.)

Did dried durian smell less?

I've never smelled fresh Durian AFAIR... dried durian is pungent but only so much as one of the weirder cheeses from Borough market.

Kobe beef means a trip to Japan

I guess it depends how strict you're being. I saw Wagyu burger on the menu in a cheap east end burger joint yesterday and ASDA sells it.
http://iforswelshwagyu.co.uk/beer_massage.html

maybe we should meet in Japan one day for steak!

Now that *would* be cool.

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-16 12:36 am (UTC)(link)
Sushi is even worse. Raw meat AND it's fish. I've managed to eat some really mild non-oily fish in recent years, but generally I really don't like the taste of fish.

I didn't know pistachios tasted "green". Curious. Ok I should give that a try,

Maybe I should say I've never even looked for a key lime pie? I'm not too bothered by lime (unless in margarita) or pie, and if I'm after a dessert I'll always pick something with chocolate. Seems a waste otherwise.

With sweetmeats, I'm not pretending there's any logic. A lump of liver looks gross to me in a way that a lump of raw chicken breast doesn't. Although handling raw meat did used to gross me out a bit when I was younger, but as a poor student with even less idea on how to cook veggies I had to overcome it or starve. Sometimes texture grosses me out though, I'm not a fan of porridge or semolina for that reason.

Sounds like dried durien is milder, It's been many years since I smelt it, my memory may have exaggerated it, but I recall the smell of a pile of fresh ones at a Thai market as like being hit in the face with a wall of rotting garbage.

This guy (http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2012/04/12/foods-biggest-scam-the-great-kobe-beef-lie) reckons, until very recently, the only real Kobe was in the Japanese province that Kobe is the capital of, and Wagyu just means "Japanese cow". So we'll just have to go to Japan! (oh noes etc...)

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-17 12:06 am (UTC)(link)
Let me know how


This guy reckons, until very recently, the only real Kobe was in the Japanese province that Kobe is the capital of, and Wagyu just means "Japanese cow"


I read that article -- the situation is a bit different here in the UK I think though. The Wagyu cattle are from authentic bloodlines hence have the marbling that's important in the beef (and apaprently are likely to be more humanely reared than in Japan).

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-17 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
I think it comes down to whether the term "Wagyu" is legally recognised and protected in local law. Unless it is, anyone can call any random piece of beef "Wagyu". Which isn't to say that some farmers, like the ones you linked to, aren't doing it properly, more that you can't trust that every instance of Wagyu is from a genuine Japanese breed. For example, this article (http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/wagyu-farmers-beef-with-fakes-20120922-26dvq.html) suggests that Australia has rules, but with no enforcement a lot of people are flouting them.

I mean, Asda Wagyu? Do they think that's Japanese for horse? ;)

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-17 12:25 am (UTC)(link)
Well aparently the ASDA stuff is actually not so bad :-)
http://your.asda.com/aislespy-farming/asda-wagyu-scoops-best-beef-product-at-national-awards

I guess in time it will be certified in the UK like Aberdeen Angus or Hereford.

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-17 12:30 am (UTC)(link)
So Asda say! ;)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2011/nov/16/asda-wagyu-beef-raising-steaks
http://www.slow-life.co.uk/asdas-make-believe-wagyu-beef/

Sounds good for a supermarket steak, but not a patch on the real thing.

If it is certified I'm guessing Asda won't be able to call their steak wagyu any more, as it's not a pure breed.

And I'd definitely rather travel to Japan than Asda to try it ;)

[identity profile] steer.livejournal.com 2013-01-18 10:56 am (UTC)(link)
Their plan is to move to a purebreed set up if it takes off -- by which point it should be much easier as there are pure breed herds in Wales, Australia and so on with documented bloodlines. Not sure if it will take off... interesting though.

[identity profile] emma2403.livejournal.com 2013-01-14 10:49 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll have to do this sometimes (with a dictionary next to me... well, Google will do ;)).

Why would you need to be brave to eat steak tartare? It's delicious, btw.

[identity profile] nisaba.livejournal.com 2013-01-15 12:42 am (UTC)(link)
Cause I'm a wuss when it comes to raw meat. The thought just makes me go "eww". Even being able to enjoy a steak medium rare rather than well done was a journey, so I'm not sure I'm ready for the next step.

[identity profile] emma2403.livejournal.com 2013-01-15 03:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Ah yes, I understand better... I'd say it feels less raw than, say, a beef carpaccio (another one of my faves) but still, I'm used to eat my meat very rare, so, I'm probably not the best adviser for you.