She's Almost Always Hungry

Christmas 2011 Menu

2011-12-27T11:42:00.000-05:00

Hosted my first Christmas dinner away from home with friends instead of family. Here's the menu:

Braised Short Ribs with Whole Grain Mustard (from Thomas Keller)
Garlic and Parmesan Mashed Potatoes
Maple-Roast Parsnips (from Nigella Lawson)
Parmesan and Thyme Rolls
Sticky Toffee Pudding (from Troquet restaurant in Boston)

It was fun crafting a holiday menu on my own. The short ribs were a bit of a process but worth the time and effort. I wasn't a big fan of the rolls but everyone else liked them. The rest of the menu was relatively easy to make. By far the sticky toffee pudding was the big hit of the night. Lovely way to end the meal. All and all I'd make this menu again, even the rolls.

Happy holidays!

Butternut Squash Velvet

2011-11-20T17:04:00.000-05:00

After watching an episode of Jacques Pépin's More Fast Food My Way, I was inspired to make his Butternut Squash Velvet soup. So easy, so simple, highlights the beautiful flavor of butternut squash. Two changes I made - I replaced half the olive oil with bacon fat to give it the smokey flavor without adding the texture of bacon and I didn't add the heavy cream at the end because the soup didn't need it. I highly recommend this recipe. It's perfect for dinner with a simple salad and some bread or as an elegant starter.

Friends & Food

2009-08-27T08:00:00.002-04:00

In the heat of the summer I've rediscovered cooking. And the reason is, I've made a friend in the building who loves food as much as I do. In a way we've created our own little co-op - she has a car and takes me grocery shopping and I cook. And it's not a one-way street as she does her share of cooking too.

We've developed a lovely cameraderie where she'll come down to my apartment and we'll spend an hour or two pouring over my cookbooks and magazines looking for new recipes to try. Or I'll get a text message saying, "shall I bring some of this down for you to try?" After a long day of work and an hour-long commute, there's nothing more welcoming than a smile and a spontaneous meal with a friend.

One ritual we've developed is making a weekly batch of the Olive Oil Granola I mentioned in a previous post. It is absolutely delicious and we can't get enough of it. Although, since we're both trying to learn the lesson of quality over quantity, we limit ourselves and try to share the bounty with other friends.

Not all our attempts are as successful as the granola but ultimately it's about our friendship and it's only enhanced by food.

More blog envy

2009-08-26T13:26:00.003-04:00

I just discovered La Tartine Gourmande - another beautiful blog with gorgeous photos.

What I'm cooking this weekend

2009-08-08T10:15:00.004-04:00

I love reading cookbooks and cooking magazines. Given my way I'd have a whole library in my home dedicated to cookbooks and a big comfy chair where I could spend hours reading. The Internet has also expanded my horizons. Just the mere thought of a dish, maybe a few ingredients and I can set off on a search and pull back any number of possibilities.

And what's absolutely the best is having foodie friends who share recipes. Just such a friend recently shared a recipe with a comment that simply stated, "This is the best granola we've ever had..." He was talking about a recipe that appeared on NYTimes.com for Olive Oil Granola with Dried Apricots and Pistachios. The comment from my friend was enough to make me want to try it out but the title of the recipe was intriguing too. After reading the accompanying article, I was hooked. Of course I substituted a few of the ingredients - I had to put my own personal stamp on it. Instead of apricots and pistachios I used dried cranberries and sliced almonds. A couple of my friends had difficulty finding coconut chips and resorted to breaking open fresh coconuts and using the food processor to break down the meat (being lazy I would have left it out). I was able to find unsweetened, organic coconut chips in the baking aisle of my local Whole Foods. I also discovered that I didn't have ground cardamom and ended up breaking open cardamom pods (I have them on hand for Indian dishes) and grinding up the little seeds in my mortar and pestle. As a result I think this batch has a more intense cardamom flavor but I love it. It's a great recipe and I have to agree with my friend, this is the best granola I've ever had.

The other recipe I made was Tangy Frozen Greek Yogurt (this recipe courtesy of the Internet). Now I'm not one to buy many appliances that have limited use, especially given my limited storage options. Somehow I was convinced to purchase an ice cream maker and now I feel compelled to use it. Thus far I've only made lemon sorbet so I felt the need to expand my repertoire. Again, I did some substitutions and I'm not sure they were the correct decisions. Instead of full-fat yogurt I used fat-free. I also didn't have corn syrup on hand so I used honey - yogurt and honey seemed like a classic combination. And finally I ended up using lime instead of lemon juice because that's all I had in the fruit bin. I just finished making the batch in the machine and now it's firming up in the freezer. The texture seems fine but the honey is definitely overwhelming - I like it but it's just a little too much. The next time I make it I will use half honey/half corn syrup and probably keep the lime because it goes well with the honey.

Well, it's Saturday morning and I still have a weekend open to try more things. The possibilities include watermelon sorbet, zucchini whoopie pies, ratatouille, or maybe some kind of summer vegetable gratin. As Jacques would say, "Happy Cooking!"

Blog Envy

2009-06-05T15:58:00.002-04:00

Cannelle et Vanille is a beautiful blog. The photos are gorgeous and amazing. There are wonderful stories and anecdotes to match. Enjoy.

The thrill continued...

2009-04-08T18:23:00.003-04:00

This weekend saw the completion of another fabulously delicious Moveable Feast. The theme, in honor of our President, was Obamoveable Feast and featured dishes from many of the places that have played a significant role in Obama's life. The dishes included:

Champagne Margaritas from one of his favorite Chicago restaurants, Topolobampo
Ahi Poke (Hawaii)
Nasi Goreng (Indonesia)
Deep-dish Pizza (Chicago)
Victory Garden Salad - featuring many of the herbs and vegetables that will be grown in the new White House garden, including spinach, snow peas, basil, parsley, and many other delicious veggies. Topped with goat cheese crostini.
Soy Braised Short Ribs (Hawaii - mentioned in an earlier post)
Mahogany Wings (because he likes wings, or so we heard)
Rice Krispy Treats (made with Fluff from Somerville)
Pineapple Upside Down Cake (Hawaii)

Oh it was all so delicious! This group has never failed me. The food coma lasted fully into the next day.

Even though I'm not hosting for another few months, I'm stressing about the theme. I really don't know what I'm going to do this time around...

Tweet This

2009-03-24T17:35:00.003-04:00

It's funny what you can find online these days - especially with everyone talking about social media this, social media that, blah, blah, blah. Today I discovered Zippy's on Twitter and Facebook. And while my friends are paring things down, simplifying and de-friending some not-so-close friends, I find myself expanding my network just to see what's out there. Following and friending Zippy's is really just another form of torture for me. I get to see the daily specials of foods I can't eat. Oh well...

Presidential Noshing

2009-03-20T10:26:00.008-04:00

Recently the Associated Press published a story on some of President Obama's favorite eateries on Oahu. Thanks M for sending it to me. So you know I couldn't resist adding my own comments to his selections.

Indigo - have heard of it but never been there. (As a side note I found the AP's comment, "locals like Kelsey Grammer," to be funny and clearly not written by someone from Hawaii. By Hawaii standards, Kelsey Grammer may be a resident but he wouldn't be considered a local.)
Alan Wong's - there are many talented chefs who excel at Hawaii Regional Cuisine. I enjoy Alan Wong's but I believe that 3660 on the Rise is one of the best. I enjoyed this article about the President's most recent visit to his restaurant.
Rainbow Drive-In - a classic and one of my favorites. My favorite after-the-beach snack is a bbq burger, side of mac salad, and slush float.
Zippy's - chili, mahi bun, fried saimin, ox tail stew, Zip Pac. Ya, we go there a lot.
Island Snow Shave Ice - never been because my favorite place to go is Waiola Shave Ice
Chowder House - yup, used to go here all the time
Sakura Restaurant - never been but they did menion spam musubi
Kua Aina Sandwich - mmmmmm burgers
Baskin-Robbins - found it funny that this made it to the list
Koko Marina Paradise and Kokonuts Shave Ice - see Island Snow Shave Ice
Mariposa - I like this restaurant. The popovers and lilikoi butter, sooo good (I know, not your typical island food but still...)

There are so many great places to eat. I've listed some of my favorites and will continue to add more.

As another little side note, our next Moveable Feast theme is foods associated with significant places from President Obama's life. I plan to try Alan Wong's Soy Braised Short Ribs. I'm not sure if I'll make the full recipe (with the kim chee fried rice and ko choo jang sauce) - it may be a bit much. Oh but it sounds so good right now!

Redemption

2009-03-10T14:05:00.008-04:00

Despite their little set back and the run-in with the office manager, the boys got the dehydrator home, fired it up, and six hours later, voila, beef jerky.

It was actually quite tasty although the marniade could use some tweaking. But I think they are inspired by their success so we'll see how the next batch turns out.

Epic Phail

2009-03-09T11:38:00.007-04:00

It's funny how the boys provide endless fodder for stories. The latest episode is, "The Great Beef Jerky Experiment." Apparently if you own a dehydrator (the kind you use to make dried fruits) then you can also make beef jerky. With a little time (a little over 6 hours) and planning you can have your own tasty dried beef treats, ready for consumption.

So the boys had the brilliant idea that they would marinate the meat overnight, bring it into the office the next day, start up the dehydrator, and by the end of the day the jerky would be ready to go (for the long commute home, I guess). Everything was going well this morning. The dehydrator was set up, the meat was soaking in its tasty marinade, all that was left was placing it in the dehydrator and letting it run. Sounds perfect.

Except, what the recipes failed to mention is that it's best to run this little contraption outside - like in a garage or on a deck - somewhere with good ventilation. When I got into the office they asked me to walk down the hall toward the office where the dehydrator was set up. And as I approached, the smell got stronger and stronger. If you didn't know what was going on you would assume that someone heated up something in the microwave - not a big deal. But when I opened the office door I was hit with a wall of teriyaki meat scented deliciousness. It was a fantastic smell, but not for the office. Still, at that point, the boys thought they were okay.

As I sat at my desk down the hall, the smell seemed to get stronger and stronger. Next thing I knew, the office manager was walking around trying to figure out where the smell was coming from. Needless to say, it was strongly recommended that the office might not be the place to conduct this experiment and the project was aborted.

One of the boys will take the dehydrator and meat home tonight and finish things up in the privacy of his home. I'm curious to see if it'll work. Since others have done it, I'm sure it does but with these guys, I'm not sure if I'll trust the results. They'll have to taste it before I will, I'm sure.

Home in the Islands

2009-02-28T08:00:00.003-05:00

I was home recently - home being Honolulu - and had two weeks of eating bliss. I thought about documenting my nostalgia-filled food journey but never quite got it done. All that wonderful island food did nothing for my goal to lose 30 pounds this year - it set me back 3 pounds - but it was worth it. Here are some of the highlights:

Kal-bi, bbq chicken, and pickled veggies from Ono Korean B-B-Q on Waialae Ave.
Kim chee fried rice from Big City Diner
Squid luau and lots and lots of snow crab legs at the Sunday Brunch at Sam Choy's Breakfast, Lunch & Crab
More than a few meals at Zippy's - chili, fried chicken, mahi bun, fried saimin
Char sui bao, kalua pig bao, ma tai su, sui mai from Royal Kitchen on River Street in Chinatown
Garlic chicken from Sugoi

That's just a sampling. Not to mention eating cake noodles (why is this only in Hawaii?), malasadas, spicy tuna poke, and all the other good things I just can't find on the mainland.

Some of the things I didn't get to on this trip:

Hamburger steak plate from Kakaako Kitchen
Shave ice from Waiola Shave Ice
Just about anything from 3660 on the Rise (my favorite restaurant in Honolulu)
Crab-stuffed, tempura ahi from Monarch Seafood

Aloha!

Bacon, yet again

2009-02-27T18:12:00.009-05:00

I'm beginning to think that I should just rename this blog to She Almost Always Thinks About Bacon because I have yet another example to share with you. This one comes from the boys at work (surprise, surprise) - meatloaf stuffed with mac and cheese, surrounded by bacon. No recipe or explanation needed. I just wanted to share.

And more bacon news...

2009-01-28T10:33:00.005-05:00

In a follow up to my post about Bacon Salt and, more importantly the bacon creation at the end of my post, there's this article that appeared yesterday in The New York Times entitled, "Take Bacon. Add Sausage. Blog." The article is really about the power of social marketing and focuses on sites like Twitter, Digg, del.icio.us, and others. Of course the boys just focused on the Bacon Explosion itself.

What is the Bacon Explosion you ask? Well for a mere $20 the engineers of this heart-attack inducing concoction began with, "weaving strips of bacon into a mat...spackled the bacon mat with a layer of sausage, covered that with a crunchy layer of cooked bacon, and rolled it up tight." They then cooked the roll in a smoker and added a nice BBQ sauce glaze before serving. The article stated that the roll contained at least 5,000 calories and 500 grams of fat - it's not for the faint of heart.

The picture and description led to cries of, "OMG that looks good!" One of the boys owns a smoker and I have a feeling that Bacon Explosion is on the menu for this weekend, just in time for the Super Bowl.

Never underestimate the power of the pig to inspire the latent cook in all of us!

Here's a link to the recipe at BBQaddicts.com. Enjoy!

My new favorite salad

2009-01-27T11:44:00.005-05:00

I went to brunch on Saturday at The Fireplace in Brookline. Now those who know me know that I'm a creature of habit. Although I like trying new and different things, many times I end up ordering my old standby dishes. The Fireplace's Crispy Duck Hash with Fried Eggs & Toast is just one of those dishes. I read the menu, I'm interested in many dishes, I order the duck hash. That's just how it goes.

This time I was famished and decided to get a starter and I'm so glad I did. Like many New American restaurants the name of the dish almost seems larger than the dish itself. I ordered the Fried Vermont Goat Cheese with Heirloom Beets, Candied Cashews, Dried Apricots, Frisé, Baby Spinach and Vermont Maple Vinaigrette. I love goat cheese and beets - the combination is just heavenly with the creamy, tart goat cheese and the sweet roasted beets. Add in some toasted walnuts and the lightest touch of vinaigrette and it's perfection.

You can see why this salad caught my eye but I was unsure about the additions that could easily mar the simplicity of the original salad I loved. My worry was for naught, all the components worked beautifully together. The large slices of golden beets were topped with a mixture of greens, lightly dressed (I hate when restaurants over dress their salads), sprinkled with the cashews and apricots. The generous goat cheese timbale topped off the salad and was perfectly fried, crisp on the outside but not greasy, soft and creamy on the inside. The serving was ample and filled me up. My poor duck hash, as delicious as ever, was almost an afterthought to this meal and was relegated to the doggie bag.

It was a perfect meal - great atmosphere, great conversation, amazing food. The only unfortunate thing was the feeling of being rushed by the waitstaff. Had there been a line of customers waiting I could understand the need to turn over the table, but there were empty tables and no line. But I will forgive it just so I can go back for the salad. I can't wait to have it again. Hmmm, maybe this weekend?

Recipe Mashups

2009-01-08T11:32:00.004-05:00

I was watching Top Chef the other night as one of the show's latest victims, Gene, was asked to pack his knives and go home. He made, what appeared to be, an amazing deep-fried whole red snapper - yum. He served it on top of daikon fettucini with tomato and basil. Huh? I'm all for unique and creative combinations, it's how cuisine evolves, but it has to make sense. An Asian-style whole-fish with a pseudo-Italian inspired radish pasta does not make much sense.

It got me thinking about what the ultimate Girl Talk recipe would look like. What am I talking about? Girl Talk, a.k.a. Greg Gillis, is an awesome masher who takes samples from different, seemingly stylistically-incompatible artists (Sly & the Family Stone, Cheryl Lynn, The Carpenters, Ludacris, Metallica, Hall & Oats, Dr. Dre, to name a few) and blends them into something completely new, cool, and amazing. The samples move in and out of each other, flawlessly merging and blending, tripping over and through each other - it's a feast for your ears. Sometimes a snippet is so small, you barely have a taste before it's gone. One of my favorites lasts maybe 15 seconds and blends samples from Salt-n-Pepa, Nirvana, and Deee-Lite (check out his latest album, Feed the Animals).

So my point is, there must be equally crazy recipes out there that take seemingly discordant ingredients to produce an amazing dish. And just so we're clear, taking an existing recipe and adding the same spice blend and/or chiles to them does not make it new or even exciting (you know who I'm talking about).

Garlic Soup

2009-01-07T11:00:00.001-05:00

In the mythic lore of the Moveable Feast there is one story that is passed down from feaster to feaster - The Mystery of the Garlic Soup. Legend has it that in one of the earliest Feasts, possibly the very first, there was one dish that was so awful, so inedible, the feaster forbid the group from even lifting the cover from the cooking vessel. The vessel was merely brought as proof that the feaster had attempted the quest. No one ever gazed into the vessel or beheld the horrors within. Since that time, should any feaster have a doubt about the dish produced, they invoke the title of Garlic Soup to ward off any naysayers and critics.

Okay, so I'm no loremaster and never will be. But the truth is, using the disclaimer, "this is my garlic soup," takes off so much pressure. I think all of us have used it at some point. I remember making a dessert when we had a Moroccan theme. The recipe called for orange flower water. As I prepared the dish, all I could think of is, "this is awful, it's like I poured a bottle of perfume over everything!" When I tasted the filling it was terrible, but it was too late, I was committed to the path and had to leave as soon as the dessert came out of the oven.

That evening, as I brought out the dessert, I made the announcement that this was the official Garlic Soup of the evening and proceeded to explain why. One of my fellow feasters told me about once making a cake that required rose flower water. When he smelled (and tasted) the cake all he could think of was "old lady bathroom cake" and never made it again.

In the end, the dessert wasn't as bad or perfumy as I thought. It wasn't my greatest triumph and it won't be my last Garlic Soup either.

Sandwich Feasting

2009-01-05T10:48:00.006-05:00

Another Moveable Feast has come and gone with much laughter and much too much eating. But that's really the point of these fabulous get togethers.

Our latest theme, as I wrote about earlier, was Sandwiches. Sandwiches are highly deceptive things, especially when cut into cute little, afternoon tea-sized bites. Before you know it you've gobbled down enough to equal 10 full-sized sandwiches and you're sinking into food coma.

You'll see that our menu ranged from the whimsical and nostalgic to "adult" sandwiches. We loved them all and look forward to the next feast.

Apps
- Egg salad sandwiches
- Cucumber sandwiches
- Conte, proscuitto, watercress sandwiches
- PBnJ sandwiches
- Fluffernutter sandwiches (with banana if you wanted it extra special)

Mains
- Lobster rolls
- Pork bahn mi
- Croque monsieur
- Chicken lettuce wraps

Dessert
- Pumpkin whoopie pies

Spam Spam Spam Spam

2008-12-18T10:08:00.010-05:00

If you're a local from Hawaii and an Anglophile like me, you can't help but love that infamous Spam skit from Monty Python. For most people the thought of eating Spam or any canned meat product is disgusting. I found it particularly amusing that Andrew Zimmern of "Bizarre Foods" who is known for eating all manner of foods (many that I would be reluctant to put in my mouth) found it difficult to eat himself.

Spam (and other items like powdered milk) is a legacy of World War II when fresh meat was hard to find. It found its way into the local diet making Hawaii one of the highest per capita consumers of Spam. We put it in omelets, in bento boxes, fry it up for breakfast, and make spam musubi.

It's this last item that the boys in the office found most fascinating. The boys like to 1) come up with food challenges (like who can eat a tablespoon of cinnamon, drink a gallon of milk, or eat a raw potato - the answer is you can't without getting sick) and 2) try off-the-wall foods. Spam musubi qualifies as the latter.

Now for those unfamiliar with this particular Hawaiian delicacy, a spam musubi looks like a giant nigiri sushi -- rice topped with a slice of Spam (instead of raw fish) and held together with a strip of nori. The Spam is fried and doused in a mixture of soy sauce (because Spam doesn't have enough sodium as it is), brown sugar, and mustard. It's easy to make but you can also easily find it in local diners and even convenience stores.

So I made it yesterday for the guys. They ate them, they're still alive, and I think they liked them. One guy took one home and totally grossed out his roommates by eating it in front of them.

Well, I'll never claim it as haute cuisine but we all have comfort foods from our childhood.

One day I'll talk more about foods from Hawaii that mainlanders would eat (obviously I'm not talking about poi, although I love the stuff). Yes we love our carbs and salty, fatty foods, but there's some really good things out there too. Hawaii is a melting pot of cultures and our foods reflect that. Until I get to it, you can always take a look at WoWGrinds.

I Can Bring Home The Bacon (Salt)

2008-12-12T14:18:00.016-05:00

There has been a lot of talk recently about the different types of salts and how the subtle flavors can change a dish. Here's one that didn't quite make the epicurean lists:

A friend of mine is fascinated with a product called Bacon Salt. He hasn't seen it in real life, hasn't tasted it, but he knows he loves it. It claims to have no calories, no fat, is vegetarian, and kosher. They have a number of different varieties, even one that's low sodium (low sodium salt, hmmmm, well they do it with soy sauce so why not with salt?)

I must admit my foodie sensibilities balk at the idea of using a substitute instead of the real thing. But the other part of me is strangely intrigued by the idea. What could I put this stuff on? Now when you work with a bunch of guys, the question really is, "What wouldn't I put this stuff on?" They're ready to do all numbers of experiments, all in the name of science and bacon-goodness. If they go through with any of their ideas I will be sure to link them.

In addition to salt the company makes Baconnaise - bacon-flavored mayo - another intriguing product. But I have to draw the line at the bacon-flavored lip balms (shudders at the thought). The guys, of course, thought this was a fabulous idea.

I predict that sometime in the near future Bacon Salt will find its way into my kitchen, just for the pure fascination factor. Until then, I will leave you with this - for those who love the real thing (and I do mean love) - one of my co-workers sent me this link. My stomach hurt just looking at it but, of course, the boys thought it looked delicious.

A non-sandwich

2008-12-10T18:46:00.010-05:00

I belong to a group of foodie friends who get together every month or so to share a dish (or three) and EAT! We take turns hosting and the host determines the theme of the meal. Themes range from a particular ethnic cuisine -- Indian, Mexican, tapas -- to something more whimsical -- Foods on a Stick or dishes based on a pre-assigned character from Clue, the boardgame.

This group (called Moveable Feast) is made up of fun, witty, and creative people (writers, actors, directors) who happen to be fantastic cooks. So what can I say but, "oh the pressure" to come up with the right dish (and when I host, just the right theme).

The next theme is simple enough - Sandwiches. Of course the host challenged us to come up with something that was not restricted to stuff between bread...okaaay. Interesting given the dictionary.com definition of sandwich is, "two or more slices of bread or the like with a layer of meat, cheese, etc., between each pair" but that's part of the fun and the challenge.

My first instinct was to make Whoopie Pies for dessert - someone else took that right away. Which also eliminated my second choice - Nigella's Ginger Jam Bread and Butter Pudding. Granted my two first options are still somewhat traditional in that they involve bread/cake of some sort surrounding filling.

So what's a girl supposed to do? What's a non-sandwich sandwich? Other ideas I had were cornish pasties, char sui bao, or empanadas - basically things that people eat with their hands. I could also make lettuce wraps (the only thing I could think of that didn't include some kind of carb around a filling).

At posting time I'm leaning toward the lettuce wraps (exact filling TBD). It's not fabulously creative but it can be really yummy and delicious. I will keep you posted.

Holiday Menu

2008-12-10T00:08:00.006-05:00

I've started to come up with a holiday menu, just can't seem to get anyone to accept an invitation. Are they telling me something?

Starter:

Warm Marcona almonds
Lemon Garlic olives from Whole Foods
Champagne or Proseco

Salad:

Shaved fennel and orange salad

Entree:

Thomas Keller's Braised Short Ribs with Whole Grain Mustard
Parsnip and celery root puree

Cheese course:

I'm still thinking about this one. A strong blue is a must (because I love it), an aged goat cheese, and then something mild and creamy

Dessert:

I have options here and it will depend on who comes to dinner (if anyone) but I'm leaning toward tiramisu or trifle

Okay so the menu hasn't totally come together and I still have to select the wines (I'm not particularly good at that). But I hope I get the chance to make this menu. It may not be for the holidays but sometime when it's still cold outside.

The VGT Omnivore’s Hundred

2008-09-19T13:42:00.008-04:00

I thought it would be fun (and easy) to start with a post from another foodie blog, Very Good Taste - a list of 100 things that every good omnivore "should have tried at least once in their life." Since this blog will be about food, why not start with foods I have and have not eaten.

The instructions from VGT are:
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 at http://www.blogger.com/www.verygoodtaste.co.uk 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. 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 jelly/Jell-O
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 three-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