You Are What You Eat

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This food meme that’s doing the rounds currently (like most things online) has rather a US bias to some of the dishes, but it still seemed like a bit of fun to do. (Ones I’ve eaten marked in bold face. The standard instructions call for striking out anything you won’t even consider eating.) So here goes:

1. Venison (no, but I could, though I have no intention really)
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare (At Los Limoneros in Tenerife, where, I am given to understand, King Juan Carlos also eats when on the island.)
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht (naturelment)
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari (and I like it, when done the Greek and crispy way.)
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich (Gee, doesn’t that make me adventurous?)
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart (… and daring!)
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (Hic. May I recommend the giggling gooseberry, or the palate stripping parsnip.)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras (I’m not proud of it, but I tried it. Gross!)
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche (And dulce de leche ice cream. Better than sex.)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava (… and Kadaifi and Galaktoboureko. Now you’re talking and now I’m drooling!)
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi (I was born in Birmingham (UK), so of course!)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal (fire!!)
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala (Ditto the Brummie comment.)
48. Eel (the moray type, at El Mundial at La Caleta de Interián, Tenerife)
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear (por supuesto)
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (must I admit this?)
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 (under the name of Mikado in Europe)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (but I’ve had rabbit.)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam (Well, I think they used to call it Luncheon Meat in the UK)
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

Only 32 / 100 - Just like my school reports, this seems to be a case of “could do better.” Oh and two half marks for caviar and bagels, not with their blini or lox partners. Certainly, if I am what I eat, I think this suggests that I’m a lot less adventurous than I might have considered myself to be.

But then, I’m not American and have avoided eating most animals for most of the last 30+ years. Maybe we should write a more UK / European version? Or a piscitarian / vegetarian / vegan / eater with any type conscience one?

Oh and the butcher does sell other meats, apart from venison (as logic dictated): I went closer to inspect. It didn’t look too wonderful mind.