Ultranormal

A challenge is afoot! Very Good Taste created a list called the Omnivore Hundred and challenged people to post it to their blogs and bold the things they’ve eaten. So, here’s mine, most of them with commentary and I linked to the Wikipedia entries for the ones I’d never heard of:
# Venison
# Nettle tea
# Huevos rancheros – Many many times. I used to stop at Filiberto’s in Tucson on the way to work a couple times a week and get either huevos rancheros or a breakfast burrito.
# Steak tartare
# Crocodile – I had alligator sausage in Charleston, SC, so I’m counting this one.
# Black pudding – A couple times in Dublin. I prefer white pudding with fried eggs. Not a huge fan of black pudding.
# Cheese fondue
# Carp
# Borscht – My friend Becky had a Russian dinner after she got back from her LDS mission and we had borscht with sour cream. It was good.
# Baba ghanoush – Not a huge fan of eggplant, so this probably won’t be a repeat.
# Calamari
# Pho – Yesterday for lunch.
# PB&J sandwich
# Aloo gobi – In Bangalore and at a buffet in Herndon.
# Hot dog from a street cart
# Epoisses;‰poisses_de_Bourgogne_(cheese)
# Black truffle – Not all by itself, but I’ve had several sauces with black truffle in them.
# Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
# Steamed pork buns – Thanks to Cindy Li and Dim Sum Sundays!
# Pistachio ice cream
# Heirloom tomatoes – Several times from Great Country Farms and other places.
# Fresh wild berries – We used to pick our own on the side of the road when we lived in North and South Carolina.
# Foie gras – Oh yes. At my favorite restaurant in the entire world in the South of France, L’Hermitage du Riou
# Rice and beans
# Brawn, or head cheese
# Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
# Dulce de leche
# Oysters – Yes, hated them, and now with my shellfish allergy, no more.
# Baklava
# Bagna cauda
# Wasabi peas
# Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl – Again, with the shellfish allergy, not going to happen
# Salted lassi – I love mango lassis from Shalimar, in Mountain View, CA. I’m not sure if that counts. I had a weird cucumber one, that I hated, so I’m assuming that was salted.
# Sauerkraut
# Root beer float
# Cognac with a fat cigar – Don’t drink or smoke.
# Clotted cream tea
# Vodka jelly/Jell-O
# Gumbo – In New Orleans even, but again, stupid shellfish allergy, I can’t eat it again.
# Oxtail – In Germany as a kid. One of the strongest tastes I’ve ever experienced, I can still remember it twenty-something years later.
# Curried goat
# Whole insects
# Phaal
# Goat’s milk
# Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
# Fugu
# Chicken tikka masala – Once in India even, but I prefer Butter Chicken.
# Eel – as sushi, not a huge fan, but I’d try other kinds of someone served it.
# Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
# Sea urchin
# Prickly pear
# Umeboshi
# Abalone
# Paneer – At least three or four different kinds.
# McDonald’s Big Mac Meal – I used to get them occasionally as a kid, but I don’t like the sauce anymore, and since watching Super-Size Me, I rarely eat fast food.
# Spaetzle
# Dirty gin martini
# Beer above 8% ABV
# Poutine – No, but after hearing my brother describe it, I want to!
# Carob chips – Mom used to “secretly” replace the chocolate chips in cookies with carob chips. We always knew.
# S’mores
# Sweetbreads – In Paris at an amazing dinner with Daniel Glazman, Jen and his wife. Amazing.
# Kaolin – The only mention I can find of Kaolin is a clay or Kaopectate. If it’s Kaopectate, you betcha I’ve had it.
# Currywurst
# Durian
# Frogs’ legs – Max and I tried them at our favorite Vietnamese restaurant in Sterling. He liked them. They were OK.
# Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake – All four!
# Haggis – In Edinburgh with Arun and a whole host of awesome W3C people. One of my all-time favorite dinners. The haggis was actually pretty good too.
# Fried plantain
# Chitterlings, or andouillette
# Gazpacho
# Caviar and blini
# Louche absinthe
# Gjetost, or brunost
# Roadkill – Not that I know of… but I have lived in the Deep South, so who knows.
# Baijiu
# Hostess Fruit Pie – Not in years, but I remember going through a phase where I loved the cherry ones.
# Snail – Several times, once in France.
# Lapsang souchong
# Bellini
# Tom yum – I’ve had it at least once, but can’t think of where at the moment.
# Eggs Benedict – Jen gets this whenever she can when we go out for breakfast. I know we both ate it at least once on our honeymoon.
# Pocky – My sister introduced me to this one.
# Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant – I don’t know how many stars L’Hermitage du Riou has, but I’ve eaten there at least 8 times so I’m counting that.
# Kobe beef – At the Microsoft cafeteria in Mountain View during a CSS Working Group meeting as a hamburger. One of the best burgers I’ve ever had.
# Hare – At L’Hermitage du Riou – baby hare wrapped in bacon – the best meal I’ve ever had.
# Goulash
# Flowers – My brother and I ate dandelions once, and I know I’ve had edible flowers before.
# Horse
# Criollo chocolate
# Spam
# Soft shell crab – But not anymore… sigh
# Rose harissa
# Catfish – All over the South, fried in filets, on a sandwich, as nuggets. You name it, I’ve had it.
# Mole poblano
# Bagel and lox
# Lobster Thermidor
# Polenta
# Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
# Snake
Of the hundred, there are a few I won’t do because they involve smoking or drinking, but I’ve tried 59 of the hundred, which isn’t too bad.
Things I’d add to the list:
# Ankimo – Monkfish liver, introduced by Alex Mogilevsky at a CSS Working Group dinner at my favorite sushi restaurant, Satsuma, in Mountain View. When it’s good, it tastes a lot like foie gras. Ask for it at your favorite sushi place. It’s rarely on the menu, even if they have it!
# Pylsurs – James McNally reminded my of them with one of his Iceland pics. We used to get them whenever we went to town when we lived in Iceland. Lamb hot dogs… yum.
# Club Orange – The best orange soda, hell, just best soda, on the planet. Like Orangina but with real flavor. You can get it imported from Food Ireland or just go to Dublin.
# Fanta Grape – The European version with real sugar.
# Sarsaparilla – Birch Beer would work too.
So, how’d you do?