Reub's journey

12 January 2012

100 foods to eat before you die

There's a list circulating on Facebook with 100 foods on it that you should aim to try before you die. It's tricky though, because some of these could cause an early death, you know? Like Frito pie, funnel cake, Spam, and Hostess fruit pies.


I checked Hostess fruit pies off the list because I feel like I know exactly what they are, but honestly can't remember when I last had one.  It was a long time ago, and today I read that Hostess is going bankrupt, which made me a little sad. No more Twinkies? Really? Why aren't they on the list, anyway? 

So here is the list, which I found on a food blog, not FB, where I didn't want to give them their creepy access to my info. Why does FB always ask that for silly quizzes like this? I always say no, but still want to take the quiz.

1. Abalone
2. Absinthe (Wait, isn't this a drink? Isn't this what rotted the guts of the French artists in the 1800's?)
3. Alligator 
4. Baba Ghanoush
5. Bagel & Lox
6. Baklava
7. BBQ Ribs
8. Bellini
9. Birds Nest Soup
10. Biscuits & Gravy
11. Black Pudding
12. Black Truffle
13. Borscht
14. Calamari
15. Carp
16. Caviar
17. Cheese Fondue
18. Chicken and Waffles(Together?)
19. Chicken Tikka Masala
20. Chile Relleno
21. Chitlins
22. Churros
23. Clam Chowder 
24. Cognac(Another drink! I thought this was a food list.)
25. Crab Cakes
26. Crickets (yuck.)
27. Currywurst
28. Dandelion Wine (They should have a separate list for drinks)
29. Dulce De Leche
30. Durian
31. Eel
32. Eggs Benedict
33. Fish Tacos
34. Foie Gras
35. Fresh Spring Rolls
36. Fried Catfish
37. Fried Green Tomatoes 
38. Fried Plantain
39. Frito Pie
40. Frogs' Legs (I've seen them though.)
41. Fugu
42. Funnel Cake (I really want one of these, the whole thing.)
43. Gazpacho
44. Goat
45. Goat's Milk (I'm going to count this one since I 've had many cheeses from goat's milk) 
46. Goulash
47. Gumbo
48. Haggis
49. Head Cheese
50. Heirloom Tomatoes
51. Honeycomb
52. Hostess Fruit Pie 
53. Huevos Rancheros
54. Jerk Chicken
55. Kangaroo
56. Key Lime Pie
57. Kobe Beef
58. Lassi (To be fair, B&C ordered it but I did try it. mmmm. Then B ordered a whole deep-fried chicken.)
59. Lobster
60. Mimosa (Another drink. Who edits lists like this?)
61. Moon Pie
62. Morel Mushrooms
63. Nettle Tea
64. Octopus
65. Oxtail Soup 
66. Paella
67. Paneer
68. Pastrami on Rye
69. Pavlova
70. Phaal
71. Philly Cheese Steak
72. Pho
73. Pineapple & Cottage Cheese
74. Pistachio Ice Cream
75. Po' Boy
76. Pocky
77. Polenta
78. Prickly Pear (Thanks, M!)
79. Rabbit Stew
80. Raw Oysters
81. Root Beer Float
82. S'mores
83. Sauerkraut
84. Sea Urchin
85. Shark (Seems like a bad idea.)
86. Snail (Worse)
87. Snake (No.)
88. Soft Shell Crab
89. Som Tam
90. Spaetzle 
91. Spam
92. Squirrel
93. Steak Tartare
94. Sweet Potato Fries
95. Sweetbreads
96. Tom Yum (I finally had this and YUM indeed)
97. Umeboshi (Thanks, C! You're right!)
98. Venison
99. Wasabi Peas
100. Zucchini Flowers

So, I've had over half of these things, but I don't really know what some of the others are. What's "Pocky"? You tell me; I'm too lazy to google it right now. Umeboshi? Tom Yum? Som Tam? Phaal? So much to learn, so little time.

31 comments:

  1. Absinthe didn't so much rot people's guts as it drove them insane. I hear that you can still buy a beverage by the same name, but, like Coke, it's not what it used to be.

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  2. i've had a few you haven't (alligator, caviar, cognac, chitlins, etc.) but haven't had a lot you have. :) and there's a lot on that list i have no desire to try. :) chicken and waffles is one i'd like - big fast food chain, actually!

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  3. Zucchini flowers dipped in batter and fried, eel yumm, sea urchin freshly gathered from the mediterranean ocean floor beneath the yacht, anchored in shallow waters of the Cote d'Azur, cracked open, watch out for spines, spread on freshly toasted french bread, the salty taste of iodine. What the heck am I doing in California?

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  4. I have never heard of half of those! I still have a looooong ways to go! I am not sure I want to try some of those!!!!!
    P.S So sorry that I have not been to your blog lately! I promise I will be here more often from now on!

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  5. those you crossed off, you tried them

    just a few you won't want to eat, durian, the smell (poof!!!) but I love it.

    bird's nest, comes from bird saliva, and so chemically treated.

    abalone, an inflated shell fish that only the Chinese would want to eat, in cans, they are beached white.

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  6. i think umeboshi are something like pickled plums...nettle tea would be easy to cross off this spring - and YOU MUST DRINK A LASSI. it's a sweet, mango-yogurt dessert drink from india...i dunno about this list. really? i *have* to eat these, or...? maybe i'll make my own list...where's the kimchi? the kombucha? the nutritional yeast? where is the hippie representation here???? oh yeah...nettle tea...

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    Replies
    1. Nutritional yeast! Yummy on popcorn!!

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  7. I brought you prickly pear lemonade mix a few years ago from Arizona! We all enjoyed it together! Check!

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  8. I ate shark before my daughter was born...went into labor and threw up all night. Never ate it again, but at least I can cross it off the list!

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  9. Snow: I kind of want to try absinthe, but I bet it's nasty. I bet they sell it in hipster bars in Portland.

    twg: Alligator! I think that at some point I may have passed up the opportunity to try it. Same with caviar & chitlins.

    ER: Omigosh, you make these things sound really divine. I didn't know that's how sea urchin is served.

    GG: Don't feel bad. I have a lot to learn too!

    Ann: I remember you talking about durian once: it sounds gross, but I'll take your word for it that it's delicious. I had fresh abalone once; it was like a huge solid scallop.

    Slim: When I read through the list, I wondered if maybe I had lassi, because I love all-things-mango. But I don't think I have. Nettles are harder to find around here than they are in the Midwest (plus I've never mastered the art of picking them!) And I'm surprised kimchi isn't on this list.

    Marge: !!!!!!!!!!!You did!!!!!! I remember now. It wasn't the least bit prickly.

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  10. Rebecca: Oh my god. I'm never gonna touch it, never.

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  11. You had some mango lassi in Chicago, at the Indian/Pakistani restaurant! Also, I think we may have made you try umeboshi (pickled plums, as Debbie said) during your Japanese birthday dinner. You should get some Tom Yum soup this winter--it's one of my favortie Thai foods when done right, and the perfect food when sick.

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  12. Chrystal: haha!! I just remembered about the pickled plums; it flashed into my pea-sized brain while out running with the dogs (all that oxygen helps the memory!) I just didn't remember what the Japanese word was. And lassi! I have tried it, you're so right!! Be prepared, kids....this is what growing old will be like...:oD

    I'll be sure to look for Tom Yum soup. Or what the hell, maybe I should say I've had that, too; how would I know?

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  13. I LOVE it that everybody keeps me honest.

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  14. So, here's my list of added goodies: caviar while in Russia,
    Chicken Tikka Masala on State Street
    Dandelion Wine - don't bother
    frog's legs - they're right! They taste just like chicken!
    Head cheese - Mike made this with our Norwegian friends Terje and Marit.
    Pavlova - our Aussie friends in seminary made this. Much like grandma Eliza's schaum torte.

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  15. no one should ever eat durian, ever.

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  16. Merry: Pavlova is just meringue? Then I've had that too. Maybe headcheese, too, only I didn't know that's what it was: ick.

    Anon: Must be an acquired taste!

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  17. Absinthe, which I had in France back in the day, tastes like licorice.

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  18. I saw the list on Facebook. (are you on FB? If so, will you "friend" me? I'm the only Reya Mellicker. )

    But I digress. I've eaten some of these foods. The ones I haven't eaten I do not intend to. I like the contemplative opportunities these lists provide, but resist the idea I should try them just because the person who assembled the list says I should!

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  19. Your little asides on the list had me laughing out loud. Pocky is a cookie on a stick dipped in chocolate.

    I've tried a good many things on that list and like you, a few (snake, shark etc.) I have no desire to gag down. Pavlova is heavenly - a meringue concoction using cornflour that gives the outside an crust and the inside a soft center. It melts in your mouth. Perhaps the drinks are to help wash everything down?

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  20. Laoch: I don't mind the idea of it being anise-flavored, but the fact that it's green kind of bothers me. I bet you had the real thing if you tried this in France; as Snow says, the stuff they sell now probably isn't as lethal.

    Reya: Yep, I'm on FB (sporadically); I'll look for you.

    And I agree about the list. Why should I eat snake just b/c some random person included it on a list? This is a really incomplete list, and I feel like making my own. (African, Middle Eastern, and South American cuisine is almost completely lacking.)

    Pauline: Pocky is a cookie on a stick? Wow, why didn't I know that. And pavlova sounds fantastic; I'm going to look for it now.

    Was it maybe my father who used to say "That's a bunch of horse-pocky" or was it somebody else? Or was it horse pucky?

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  21. Mom! I think you've had more than you admit. You've had chicken tikka masala, I'm sure of it. Also, you've definitely had Dulce de Leche. I think you had frog's legs at that place under the bridge in PDX. And of course you've had funnel cake at a fair sometime. Maybe you've had sweetbreads, by mistake?

    I think it's horse-pucky.

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  22. I have had something very much like chicken masala, although I think I'll try making it myself this weekend. Then I know for sure. What's dulce de leche? A pudding?

    Oh frog legs in PDX...right...did I actually eat them?

    I have truly never ever indulged in a funnel cake, but just breathing the fumes at the county fair ought to be enough.

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  23. Almost certain Phaal is an indian curry. And easily one of the hottest. I've tried it before and definitely not for the faint-hearted...

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  24. Anonymous: I just googled phaal & you're right. It is a curry developed in the UK & tweaked to be extremely spicy. There's a restaurant in NYC that offers free beer and a certificate if you can finish their serving of phaal. I like spicy food but that might be a bit much.

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  25. Pavlova isn't just merrunge exactly. It's far better!

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  26. Snails and frog's legs are really yammy!!!! I know it sounds revolting but Try to have a go!!! Snails wh all I oli(catalan sauce) its the best ever!!! But beaware wh the snails. Only two types of them are edible or yam...bové or cristians. The best region to try this delicious food or nibbles( doesn't feed u up) is Lleida(province in Spain) and for the frog's legs(amposta,delta del ebre,l'aldea. Etc) tarragona

    I wish I was there.

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  27. Hi,

    I couldn't resist responding to your one of your comments at the end. Pocky is an asian candy stick. They're really good! I prefer chocolate but a lot of my friends like strawberry. I'm not sure where you're from, but in Toronto you can get them at asian supermarkets, and in my hometown they have them at 'specialty' grocery stores.

    They're worth a try!

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  28. Pocky? a japanese snack. pretzel if you may. this is pocky. http://ts4.mm.bing.net/images/thumbnail.aspx?q=4981209091998531&id=121310b983d853beb909fbbd31154e1b

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  29. Absinthe in it's pure form is was sad to be ahallucinogen, comes from wormwood...you can only really get the proper stuff in Prague and other surrounding places in Europe...the stuff you buy in your local bottle store/bar is just a high strenght alcoholic equivalent which sometimes has mild amounts of wormwood, but not full blown soaking/infusion as most countries are smart enough to make it illegal.

    Artemisia absinthium (Absinthe Wormwood)

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemisia_(plant)

    Seems it's now disputed and it's not actually hallucinogenic though.

    PS - Pocky http://www.alde.com/anime/regpocky.JPG japanese sweet snack

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  30. easy peace: With enough beer or wine on the side maybe I'll have the courage to try these. My son claims I have had frogs' legs, but I don't remember...too much beer on the side?

    Next time I'm in Spain-which I hope I am-I'll look for your suggestions.

    Anon: Pocky!! I found it in the Asian food section, but still haven't tried it. Soon...

    Unknown: Great info on absinthe: what an interesting concoction.

    Anon: Yeah, it's okaaaaay on popcorn, but nothing is better than butter:)

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