Omnivore Meme

I'm sure that I'll take some heat from Hulio for the number of times I've said that I'll never try something on this list. In general, though, you should note that those things follow a theme-- they are mostly innards. I don't do innards. Also, there are some things that I haven't tried because I have a food allergy that prevents me from trying them. Otherwise, I think I've at least tried a respectable number of these things.

As usual, bold means I've eaten it, things I would not ever eat are crossed out, and commentary is included.


1. Venison - this is a semi-regular food in our household, thanks to my father and his hunting buddy.
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare - only a single bite, once, when Finbar ordered it for some unknown reason. I found it slimy and disgusting. Certainly not something I would try again.
5. Crocodile - I've had alligator, though.
6. Black pudding - No way, no how.
7. Cheese fondue - Eep used to have fondue parties. Those were fun. I miss that, and I also miss Eep a great deal.
8. Carp
9. Borscht - Ash made some once. He gets very mad if I pronounce it with the "t".
10. Baba ghanoush - there's a place around the corner that makes a fantastic version of this. They roast the eggplants fresh every morning and it gives it the most amazing smoky overtone.
11. Calamari - A dish which I used to hate, but tried again at Ash's urging and now I love it.
12. Pho - this is on the "foods that will kill Katze" list, so no.
13. PB&J sandwich - The only time that I will eat grape jelly is in a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I also like strawberry jelly with peanut butter. Everything else is sacrilege.
14. Aloo gobi - This was one of the dishes I made for the Bollywood party
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses - Given how much I love cheese, I would totally try this.
17. Black truffle - I hope to try this one day when we have some money to throw around.
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes - One of my host fathers made a cherry wine at home. It was very potent and very sweet.
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries - Most recently, right off of a tree in Rockville, Maryland.
23. Foie gras - I dislike the taste, texture, and idea of liver in general, so foie gras would be wasted on me
24. Rice and beans - Also on the "foods that will kill Katze" list
25. Brawn, or head cheese - yet another host father was a huge fan. I tried it to be adventurous. It made me want to vomit. He laughed at me (good naturedly), and I have never had another chance to try it. I might, if it came to that. I might not.
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper - I don't really do heat for the sake of heat.
27. Dulce de leche - Is it just me, or is this EVERYWHERE all of a sudden?
28. Oysters - I'm not sure if I could do this. Clams gross me out, and oysters seem to be even worse. It's a texture thing, mostly. Maybe I'd try one, just to be adventurous. Can't be worse than head cheese, right?
29. Baklava - A girl in my class in elementary school was greek, and she used to bring it in for her birthday treat everywhere. That was probably my first exposure to "ethnic" food, and you probably couldn't pick something better. So wonderfully crunchy and sweet and nutty. It's like a little slice of heaven. Even though it has now joined the "foods that will kill Katze" list.
30. Bagna cauda - Not sure if I would eat this. I'd probably try it, but anchovies are not a favorite of mine.
31. Wasabi peas - I love these, but they are hard to find without rice flour.
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl - No. Well, I guess I'd try it again sometime. I just can't get past the texture of clams. But I'm growing fonder and fonder of seafood tastes, so maybe...
33. Salted lassi - I'll probably try this one day. It's kind of surprising that I've never tried it yet.
34. Sauerkraut - I have loved loved loved sauerkraut since I was a little girl. We used to have sauerkraut and spareribs on New Year's Day every year, and I would look forward to it with gusto. I love several variations on sauerkraut, except for the very sweet kind. I very rarely ate this when I lived in Germany, but I eat it fairly frequently in the US.
35. Root beer float - I loved these when I was a little girl.
36. Cognac with a fat cigar - Cognac, yes. I love cognac. Fat cigar, never. Disgusting habit.
37. Clotted cream tea - Something I've wanted to try for a while now.
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O - Strangely enough, I've never had a jell-o shot. I've served them, but never had one. I think I may be past that age now.
39. Gumbo - I'd totally eat this if it wouldn't kill me.
40. Oxtail - I'd try it though. In related thoughts, any time I think about eating animal tails, I think about Little House in the Big Woods, and the chapter about butchering time, when Laura and Mary get all excited about the pig's tail.
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects - I just can't get past the vermin factor.
43. Phaal - probably not on my list of things to try, as I'm not a huge fan of excess heat. I bet Ash would eat it, though.
44. Goat’s milk - Yum. The goat is a wonderful animal, indeed.
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more - One day, one day...
46. Fugu - If it is ever possible to try this without the taint of rice, I would probably try this.
47. Chicken tikka masala - This is a semi-regular dish in our household. We've made it in the crockpot a couple of times, but honestly, the more often I make it, the less of a true tikka masala it becomes, since I tend to add whatever is languishing in the fridge/ freezer.
48. Eel - Another texture issue here. I'd try it in a different preparation, though. Maybe it's better as a fresh dish.
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut - Don't get me wrong: these are good. They are not, however, worth the hype, not even fresh off the belt. Once, I did a walkathon for the American Diabetes Association, and the major sponsor was Krispy Kreme. The irony of this was far more delicious than any donut I've ever eaten.
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone

I would absolutely try any of the previous four should the opportunity present itself.

54. Paneer- Oh, my, do we love paneer in this house. I wish it wasn't so freaking expensive.
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal - In more than one country, sadly.
56. Spaetzle - Um, hello? Exchange student to Germany? Actually, I've only had this once in Germany. It was fan-freaking-tastic. A friend's mother made it for me just to make sure that I had it once before I went back to America. I've had this several times in the US, notably in Amish country. I love this type of thing, by the way. I would happily eat them plain.
57. Dirty gin martini - No, but I've had a dirty vodka martini. It was okay. Nothing I'd break a door down for or anything.
58. Beer above 8% ABV - Given my affinity for belgian beers, this is one I've done many a time.
59. Poutine - Once, in Niagara Falls, and never again. I don't know, I'm not a fan of mixed up food topped with gravy. I was never a kid who couldn't have foods touch any of the other foods on the plate, but I certainly could not abide the whole "mix it all up in to a big goopy pile" thing that my sister did.
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores - Also, do you know what is delicious? Caribou Coffee's Campfire Mocha.
62. Sweetbreads - I don't do innards.
63. Kaolin - Um, this isn't a food. Why is it on the list?
64. Currywurst - So bad for you, so delicious. I have to eat this at least once in the first week I'm back in Germany, every time. I ate it a LOT when I lived in Hamburg with the second host family, where the host mother was super nice and a terrible cook.
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake - A fair isn't a fair if you can't get a funnel cake. I wish the people around here would get that through their heads.
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain - They serve this at the brazilian churrascaria we love (otherwise known as "Meattastic"). It is so delicious I can barely stand it. I have considered making these at home, and may yet do so.
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette - Listen, Wikipedia describes andouillette like this: "The taste is an acquired one - as it is with all offal - and can be compared to strong, decaying pork sausages. The texture is somewhat rougher than sausages, as the content is roughly cut." I don't want to eat something that is described using the phrase "strong, decaying pork sausages".
71. Gazpacho - The place I waitressed at in college made this fresh, from scratch in the summer, and it was amazing. I've had it at other places, and when it's bad, it's like eating a big bowl of watery salsa. When it's good, it's like a little slice of tomato heaven.
72. Caviar and blini - yes, to both, but not at the same time.
73. Louche absinthe - I'd try it, I guess. Luneray and I had some swedish liqueur that was heavily flavored with wormwood, and it was unbelievably bitter, so I don't know that I'd rush out to try it. And I don't really need to brag to people that I've tried absinthe (not nearly goth enough, I guess).
74. Gjetost, or brunost - Yum. Super yum.
75. Roadkill - um, Hello? Diseases?
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie - I was always partial to the blueberry ones as a child.
78. Snail - I'd try it if I had the chance.
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky - And the cat likes it, too.
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare - We have rabbit in the freezer right now (Thanks, Dad!), but that's not exactly the same, I guess.
87. Goulash - This was a semi-regular dish last year. In fact, we made this when we had the mormon missionaries over to dinner. I haven't made it in a long time. Maybe it will make a new appearance on our menu soon.
88. Flowers - Just last week, in fact, at a work luncheon.
89. Horse - I don't know if I ever told this story on the blog before. When I was in Sweden, and had been there less than a week, and was therefore still filling in the gaps in my vocabulary, I went grocery shopping. One thing I bought was lunchmeat. This was pre-packaged stuff, much like you might buy Oscar Meyer Bologna. On the front of the package, it said "Hamburgerkött". Okay, I thought, Hamburger Meat. It sort of looked like pastrami. So I bought it. At home, I opened up the package and made myself a little smörgås for middag. I took a bite, and immediately gagged and spit it out. My immediate thought was "What the hell part of a cow could taste so awful?". So I got the package out of the fridge and turned it over to read the fine print, thinking it would either say that it was "Cow Butt" or detail some special preparation that could account for the nastiness. And sure enough, there it was: "Häst". I double-checked it in my dictionary just to make sure that I hadn't lost my mind, and that is the story of how I ate horse meat. I am not likely to try it again.
90. Criollo chocolate -If I ever did try it, I didn't know that I had something special in my mouth. Now that I've learned about it, I'll keep my eyes open for it.
91. Spam - So very nasty. And yet every ten years or so, I decide that I need to try it again, just to make sure. I'm due in another four or five years.
92. Soft shell crab - This grosses me out for some reason, even though I'm sort of favorably neutral on crab in general. Ash really likes it, but the idea of eating all the crunchy bits freaks me out. I have texture issues, if you didn't already guess that.
93. Rose harissa - It sounds pretty good. I'd give it a try if I had the chance.
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox - Lox is another thing that I don't like, but I keep trying it because I think that this time will be different.
97. Lobster Thermidor - Lobster is something that I don't like enough to pay for, but I'd probably try this if I had the chance.
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake