Wednesday 28 January 2009

An Australian and Food

We have found another Australian in France. La Niortaise lives in Niort, but teaches English to university students in Poitiers. She blogs here. If you're an Australian wanting to live in France, you will find her experiences with bureaucracy and visas enlightening.

One of the items on her blog was the VGT Omnivore's Hundred, which we thought we would pass on. This gives us a chance to show two photos of items on the list we ate for Christmas Dinner.
Susan opening oysters using the wooden oyster holder

The VGT Omnivore's Hundred
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 here linking to your results.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred:
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borsch
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
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 (Jello shots!)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
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
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. 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
84. Tasting menu at a 3-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
The round cheese is Époisses

I completed this list with not a lot of confidence, because I cannot be absolutely sure what I have eaten in the past.

This is a result of:
  • Very late mornings after a night out. I used to play in a band, and you get hungry at 5.00am and then can't necessarily recall eating anything the next day
  • Travelling to places where I don't speak the language. Who knows what I ate in Argentina, Chile, Brazil, Korea or the United States (and other places besides)?
  • Mislabelling. I probably have eaten horse without knowing it, and I have seen items such as "lamb bits" on a menu. These could mean me adding 3 or 4 extra items
  • Any meat you are unaccustomed to "tastes just like chicken", apparently. Was some of the "chicken" actually snake? What was that in the stew in Korea?
  • One I am allergic to. I like crab and will eat it if you wish, but you should be prepared for copious projectile vomiting.
  • One I am not admitting to. I will let you decide which one.
Simon

p.s This is our "Levis" blog entry - 501!! If I had been paying attention yesterday I would have made more of a fuss.

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh Susan, were you humming"your tiny hand is frozen" ? it looks rather chilly at that sink.

Susan said...

Margaret: opening them was OK, but scrubbing them before that was absolutely perishing. And of course, by the time you realise you are going to get frostbite, it's too late to put rubber gloves on...

Anonymous said...

We've eaten the original Krispy Kreme doughnut at the original Krispy Kreme bakery (Raleigh, I think). Krispy Kreme has even reached central PA. When there's a red light on the sign, the doughnuts are fresh.

I would eat a lot of Krispy Kremes before I'd eat fugu. Actually, I've already eaten a lot of Krispy Kremes.

Simon said...

Carolyn:
I didnt realise that was the original Krispy Kreme place. A very dear friend of mine took me there and bought a box of about 7 million Kirspy Kremes at the drive through - for my breakfast.

I have to admit I was slightly less than gracious about them - I couldnt understand why they were Soggy and Syrupy rather than Krispy and Kremey. If I had known then how culturally important they were I would have tried harder.

Anonymous said...

At a hunter's diner years ago in Washington, DC, I had bear and buffalo meat. I must say they taste the same, and just like beef. Another time I had beaver meat in Pennsylvania, and it was delicious. For an appetizer we had rattle snake and THAT tastes like chicken but that one was tough. For vegetables we had milkweed and daylily buds. Nothing to write home about!
When I was in Korea for the Olympic Games, restaurants didn't serve dog meat, so I have no idea how it tastes. And I don't think I want to.
In Paris, I had horse meat many times. The meat is a little sweeter than beef but it is absolutely delicious.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Simon, is it possible that you've never had a PB&J sandwich? Not even in Raleigh?

I wonder if the original Krispy Kreme shop is in Raleigh. I think it might be in Winston-Salem (N.C.). I've never understood what people find so delicious about Krispy Kreme doughnuts either.

There are several items on the list of 100 that I have never heard of. Salted lassi, is that brined dogmeat? Aloo gobi? Fugu? Umeboshi? Durrian? Baijiu? Tom yum? Pocky? I guess I need to get out more.

Unlike CHM, I've never eaten bear or beaver. But I have had horsemeat and rattlesnake.

I don't think I've ever eaten Spam, and I can't imagine why you wouldn't even consider trying softshell crab, which is quite the delicacy.

Why in the world would anybody want to eat a raw Scotch Bonnet pepper? Or raw garlic, for that matter?

What is "louche absinthe"? The opposite of the respectable, upstanding, honest kind? And give me a clean martini any day.

Simon said...

Ken:
I had heard of PB&J, even as a kid. It's just that for some reason it struck me as just plain weird - not a UK/Australian thing at all, although in Australia they do eat Peanut Butter and Honey

Lassi is an Indian youghurt type drink, Aloo Gobi is cauliflower curry, Fugu is blowfish (see here if you're feeling brave). Durian is a tropical fruit that smells like you have trodden in something but tastes amazing, (a brave first person to have tried that one, I tell you). Tom Yum is a Thai soup - you should be able to get a kit in Blois - and Pocky are Japanese chocolate dipped rolled wafer type things (big also in Korea).

A louche absinthe is one that has has water adeed (I had to look it up too!), Dirty martini has olive juice added instead of vermouth, as for crab - see mt second last explanation!!

Anonymous said...

Ken, you're right; it's Winston-Salem where we made the pilgrimage to the first Krispy Kreme place. Breakfast is an odd time to eat deep-fried foods, but when in Winston-Salem....

Susan said...

Ken: I sent you my Aloo Gobi recipe a while ago. Try it – it's delish.

My sentiments exactly re the raw Scotch bonnet, btw.

Umeboshi are Chinese salt sour plums. Also delish.

Ken Broadhurst said...

Simon, I read that next to last bullet point but didn't focus on it. Yes, avoid the soft-shell crab, please.

And as for peanut butter and jelly, are we clear that jelly is the same as jam and not the same as Jello? There isn't really any difference between peanut butter and honey vs. peanut butter and jam.

Susan, now that you say so, yes, I remember the Aloo Gobi recipe, and it sounds delicious. Soon.

Carolyn, there isn't much difference, I bet, in calories or fat content between a Krispy Kreme (or other) doughnut and a good French croissant. Just a difference in the type of fat used.

Simon said...

Ken - clear on the PB&J thing - poeanut butter only needs a light sprinkling of salt added to be a food of the gods. I was never in the peanut butter and honey camp (I don't eat honey)

I can remember the first time I heard about PB&J - it was on Sesame street in the late 60s. My how we laughed. Then we realised it wasn't a joke, and people actually put JAM on PEANUT BUTTER. How strange are people?

Anonymous said...

I posted the Omnivore's 100 on my blog. I've tried 83 out of 100.

The unknowns were:
Scotch Bonnet Pepper
Hostess fruit pie
Krispy Kreams
Koalin (clay?)

That was fun.

Le Pré de la Forge said...

Only some 2499 to go....

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