50 Foods from the BBC

[akirlu]

Apparently the Beeb Beeb Ceeb has assembled a list of 50 foods to try before you die. bohemiancoast isn't much impressed with the authentic try-before-you-die-ishness of the list. No, nor am I, I have to admit. But then, the list was compiled by polling. Proll polling gets you results like the OC Weekly poll that rated Olive Garden as the best Italian restaurant in Orange County, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California.

There are a number of oddnesses about the list. It's a bunch of Brits, so some of what qualifies as exotic enough to be a do-or-die item will seem very ordinary to Americans. And as Ms. Coast notes, several items seem to be only notable for being hard to get outside of Australia. Moreton Bay Bugs seem to be a crustacean local to Moreton Bay, but not otherwise extraordinary. There's not much on the list I haven't tried yet: the aforementioned Moreton Bay Bugs, alligator, guinea pig, barramundi, Australian meat pie, and durian fruit. And of the items on the list, there are several which aren't necessarily a particular food (tapas for example, and to some extent, sushi) or which encompass huge possibilities of regional variation (Mexican food, Chinese food, pizza) which make them almost meaningless.

But in an attempt to make lemonade out of the list, I think I'll attempt my own list, of stuff I'm glad I've tried, which might seem a bit unfamiliar to some. But for politeness' sake, I think I'll stick it behind a nice, discreet :

1. Cloudberries, fresh and preserved
2. Zucotto, specifically the chocolate hazelnut zucotto from Old Town Pasadena Bakery
3. Rosehip soup, with heavy cream and the little almond cookies like amaretti
4. Soft-shell crab (didn't like it, the texture squicks me, but now I know)
5. Smoked horse meat
6. Stewed goat, Yuccatan-style in a chocolate mole
7. Chicago-style deep dish pizza, best in Chicago, but Numero Uno's is not bad
8. Crayfish, boiled up with lots of dill
9. Norwegian wild trout, fresh caught and grilled over an open fire
10. Maple sugar candy - more of a terrible addiction, really
11. Thai garlic-crispy chicken with fried basil leaves
12. Balsamic vinegar - seriously, an entire universe opened up
13. Home-grown tomatoes, with a little salt
14. Lobster salad, in a cheap dive in Rockport
15. Fresh-picked chantrelles, sauteed, in cream sauce
16. Kalamata olives, which taught me to like (some) olives
17. Fresh cilantro (coriander)
18. Thai fish-coconut soup, cooked in a whole coconut (the coconut's texture is fab)
19. ost kaka (emphatically not the same as cheesecake)
20. kalv dans
21. French onion soup
22. gjet ost
23. chocolate-cinnamon-chili Coyote ice cream
24. toasted pignolas, especially in salads
25. indian fry bread, with honey
26. beignets with chicory coffee at Cafe du Monde
27. grits, with butter AND jam, and screw native opinion
28. hot pastrami on french roll, especially as once rendered by Togo's
29. fresh gooseberries
30. green figs
31. chocolate souffle, with lots of whipped cream
32. most any dim sum
33. North Carolina-style barbecue, with extra sauce, please
34. Schweitzer schnitzel
35. Rhubarb compote
36. Princess torte
37. Marzipan, generally
38. Cheeseburger with hashbrowns, at Russell's
39. Nova & cream cheese with tomato & red onion on a garlic bagel; the perfect food
40. caprese salad
41. Cheese danish from Konditori in Pasadena, never equaled, alas
42. Dolmadakia
43. taboule, at Burger Continental
44. green onion bread, from Jamilla Garden
45. fresh baguette, with salt butter
46. fresh basil
47. sausage rolls
48. smoked reindeer
49. USDA prime beef
50. cod roe caviar with butter on rye limpa

Well, golly I could go on for days. On the other hand, I could go out and get some lunch, which, after compiling that list, seems like a much more productive idea. Strangely, I'm feeling peckish now.