Motivated by a VERY interesting dinner topic brought up by Ed tonight while at a special ramen tasting event at Miki’s (thanks to Ben&Suanne of Chowtimes and Miki Ramen) I was doing some research on things, plants, animals, insects that are not commonly eaten. The topic was about which animals we would eat. Sure, kittens, ducklings, dogs are cute, but would they be delicious? Dog, horse, snake, whale, alligator are just some of the more uncommon animals that some cultures around the world eat, and I’m sure there are many others that you just can’t imagine right now.

Ed said he WOULD eat a penguin, but COULD he? I’m sure every animal is edible, it’s just a matter of laws, beliefs and mental boundaries that define what we can or can’t eat. I suggested that one could literally EAT their way through the alphabet, starting with Aardvarks and ending at Zebras. I realize that undertaking this would be very challenging, extreme and perhaps with some animals, even illegal, and so I won’t be attempting it, at least not in the near future.  With my research though, I came across this old post from Ethnic Eats called the Gastronome’s 100. Tracing it back to the source, Andrew of Very Good Taste put together a list.

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food – but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Now this is more down to Earth and realistic! Some things I may have had, but I can’t recall accurately so I’m going to leave them as untried.

Rules:

1) bold those you have tried
* 2) Asterisk any items you’d be interested in trying but have not yet.*
3) Italicize any item you’ll never eat again.
4) Strikethrough those you wouldn’t eat on a bet.

*1. Venison
*2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
*4. Steak tartare
*5. Crocodile
6. Cheese Fondue
*7. Black Pudding
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 jello
*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. Sweetbread
*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 three-Michelin-star restaurant
*85. Kobe beef
*86. Hare
*87. Goulash
*88. Flowers – really? any kind of flower? or like crystallized flowers, etc? I’ll just leave it red.
*89. Horse
*90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
*96. Bagel and lox
*97. Lobster Thermador
98. Polenta
*99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee*
*100. Snake

42/100 as of May 26th, 2010.
The list above was pretty tame, so I’m going to add on my own personal extras that I want to try out.

*101. Balut
*102. Herring
*103. Natto
*104. Vegemite
*105. Escamoles
*106. Dinuguan
*107. LIVE Octopus

I will update this whenever I have tried something.