great god pan

[interstice]

Here's one of those meme thingies. I stole it and g-d willing I'll never do one of these again. Mostly I'm doing it to brag about the only aspect of my life in which I have an adventurous demeanor. The ones I've eaten are in bold. The ones I've personally prepared are italicized (and counting preparation as the hardest part of preparing the distinctive part of the dish within reason; e.g. I've brewed lapsang souchong, but it's not different from brewing any tea, and I've not smoked it myself, so it's not italicized). If I've had them in a culturally-significant context, they're underlined. I am pretty picky about it; e.g. Chinese food from Chinatown is not enough.

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 (NYC bèbè)
16. Epoisses (I had to look this one up, but I had eaten it. Stinky cheese from Burgundy. And I had it in Burgundy.)
17. Black truffle (only the obligatory little tiny flecks analogous to those bits in vanilla ice cream, so not really.)
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes (tomato and watermelon. both were shit.)
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries (self-picked in Pacific NW)
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (WTF?!)
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. Dosai
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly (jello shot)
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 (sigh)
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (hot off the conveyor belt around midnight)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (embedded in a riceball)
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle (mit speck)
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine (although it wasn't very good, nor authentic...)
60. Carob chips (some people use this instead of chocolate. I've never understood those people.)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads (srsly. It was delicious.)
63. Kaolin (Apparently this is the kao in kaopectate. Is it referring to the clay that people eat in places like Haiti and South Carolina?)
64. Currywurst
65. Durian (only in a custard, but it was foul enough...)
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or and funnel cake (although I never got around to frying my own Mars bar or twinkie...)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (With moutarde a l'ancienne, it is incredible. Just trust me and don't look it up on wikipedia before you try it.)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe (I've had louche fake-absinthe, but no wormwood so no dice.)
74. Gjetost, or brunost (the one and only cheese I will never eat again. Velveeta before gjetost!)
75. Dumpster-dive bagels (I changed this from roadkill... seriously, WTF?!)
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail (aside: on a Customs declaration form, there is a question: "Are you importing live snails or active germ culture?")
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant (not quite yet)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (although mostly as edible garnish; I've never had a flower salad or anything. I include it because I got the pure sensory experience, however brief.)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (although harissa, yes of course)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (why bother? Just serve the damned crustacean with butter. If you have to fuss about it, clarify the butter yourself or something. Sheesh.)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (and I hated it; compared to other coffee varieties, it was like pickle juice)
100. Pigeon

Comments

[suicide-sam-e.livejournal.com]

What ones have you had not represented which you would add to the list?

I'm disappointed dog and cat weren't part of the meme.

and I would recommend venison. It's like everything beef wished it was. (At least, all of the prepared venison I have had has left me wanting more.) I can only assume deer are not more widely farmed because "fattening" isn't part of deer behavior. (Deer probably cannot be "watered" either before market and slaughter.)

Oh, awesome post title.

[hfwolfe.livejournal.com]

This list is beautiful.

Gjetost? I love that shit. I guess you like it stinky. I can hardly stand petit basque. speaking of which: Have you ever had a Limburger-Raw Onion-Dijon Mustard on Dark Rye? Theres a fucking cheese sammich to remember. I strongly recommend this book: http://www.amazon.com/Cheese-Primer-Steven-Jenkins/dp/0894807625 which has been one of the best resources since moving here.

Pigeon? Nowai.

I'm gonna totally continue this, but with catfish replaced by wild catfish. I find farm catfish about as exciting as tilapia.

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

I added pigeon and dosai, which replaced snake (SNAAAAAAKE!!!) and foie gras. I've not had either of those though I've had other slightly less cruel patês.

I'll post in the comments some more addenda, real soon now.

Deer: I think you're right. Part of the goodness of venison is the fact that it is unfarmed, kind of like wild game or boar. I've had very little wild meat... should rectify this. I once looked for NYC restaurants with even wild game, and found precious few.

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

That pigeon-back was part of one of the most expensive meals in my life (it also included les epoisses and the sweetbreads).

I didn't even know you could still get wild catfish. Yeah, I've only had breaded and fried farmed catfish "chunks".

That sammie makes my mouth water; I think I'd add rocket. This is also pretty good: spread two bread slices with wasabi, then use the sharpest available cheddar to make a grilled-cheese and tomato sandwich. You can add the tomato afterward, or if you take out the pulpy seed part and layer it inside the cheddar slices, just cook it in. Delish.

Does gjetost go bad? Mine was from Publix, maybe it was a few years old or something. I am totally perplexed by how anyone can consider it good.

[hfwolfe.livejournal.com]

Where to get wild catfish: I like the ones out of the sloughs and little lakes west of Lake Panasoffkee, myself. They have a distinctly "muddy" flavor brought about by a life in mud. Speaking of which, I have a ton of fish breading I need to use. Too bad efficiency apartments and fish cookery don't mix.

Gjetost->bad: no idea. It was hard to keep around the house for very long, since my ex had a sweet tooth. My guess is that you think of cheese when you eat it. This is bad. Think of caramel. Its like drinking Kefir or ayran and thinking of milk. Very bad. I used to hate tofu, because i viewed it as a meat substitute. Now I see tofu for the beautiful thing it is.

Wasabi. Mmmmm. Wasabi. Wait. I have those things.

new items

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

Everything here I have not eaten, I would like to eat. Yes, even the ortolan. And to think I was once a vegan. Fuck 'em.

101. Microbrew/local mead (I've heard that it makes a night/day difference, and I can't stand the few commercial meads there are.)
102. Ortolan (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ortolan_Bunting#Gastronomy), the pinnacle of cruelty.
103. Those anti-popsicles made from meat broths gelatinized by that hydrocolloid which is congealed when warm, and "melts" as it cools down to room temperature.
104. Chocolate "molten" cake (or, undercooked chocolate soufflé)
105. A proper lasagne, with Béchamel sauce as the primary binder, instead of ricotta.
106. A can's worth of tuna fish, unadorned.
107. Seared rare tuna steak
108. Azuki bean dessert soup (I made this for a hippie pot-luck; I didn't like it much at all. As a sort of odd aside, this has sentimental value to me since the person who went out of his way to tell me that he liked it, died in a wilderness accident a few years later. I was pretty bummed out about how the dish had come out & I really appreciated the compliment from an all-around kind & honest person. I wish I'd gotten to know him better.)
109. Drunken live shrimp (http://www.weirdmeat.com/2006/02/shanghai-drunken-shrimp.html).
110. Moules frites
111. Roast wild boar
112. Aussie meat pie
113. Gueuze
114. Fresh lychee
115. Black pudding

Re: new items

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

Typo: I've had gueuze. It's fantastic.

[suicide-sam-e.livejournal.com]

Maybe you can get in on some kind of hunting trip? I'm not suggesting taking up hunting, because it would be a counter-productive investment (even if the food distribution network collapses tomorrow, you'd be better off hunting people and their food than primary sources of food). But maybe there are 'chartered hunts' or something? (You know, as FL has chartered fishing trips where the vessel, tackle, food, and fishing licenses are all covered — only with hunting.)

Also, as I understand hunting (whether fish, fowl, or fauna) to work, if at least someone gets some meat, at least a portion of it is usually divided up with the non-productive members of the party. So as part of a group your chance of getting venison increases. (But then again, maybe that's just some kind of "gentleman rule" I have been repeatedly exposed to and so now take as granted.)

Re: new items

[suicide-sam-e.livejournal.com]

Mmm. Fresh lychee "nuts". Mother Nature's answer to Kool-Aid.

I do not know if ortolan is crueler than some other foods. Like ones where they cut chunks out of living things to prepare for you. Or kobe beef, but then again, kobe beef is surrounded by misinformation.

In defense of eating alive or recently-alive things, I can honestly say that the best meat I have ever had in my whole life came from a pig my uncle slaughtered earlier that day. Holy moly, everything about it was delicious. I have heard since then that most meat (world-wide) is fairly 'fresh'. However, in America we are used to getting aged meat that has traveled a good distance under refrigeration from where it was killed. I do not know if this is rumor or fact, but I know that pig was delicious and I would slaughter one myself with my bare hands for another tasty portion of its prepared muscles.

Re: omitting "snake". I had my chance to eat pretty-fresh rattlesnake, but hedged about it, not knowing how to prepare it or what potential germs were involved (re: freshness and unskilled prep.). Inside they smell like fish! Also, if you're going to practice dressing your own meats, I recommend snake if you get bored of fish. They're just a tube of meat with a zillion tiny ribs. The organs practically drop right out in their .. whatever that thin connective tissue is.

Plus, with some practice and space, you can cure and preserve their skins for later use. (Mine did not turn out as I had hoped, partly due to inexperience but largely due to neglecting the brine.)

[hfwolfe.livejournal.com]

I also recommend an experience hunting. Its some of my best memories. But, Yo Yo Yo, don't just go on _any_ old chartered hunting trip. For a grand and half, you can go on a "Pork Slam" with Ted-Freaking-Nugent:
http://www.tednugent.com/hunting/huntwithTed/
"Primo Adventure Guaranteed!"

Alternatively, if you go to a farmers market in a few months, you might be able to find quality wild game. The one in Madison had wild deer throughout the season. Pricey, but goo-oo-ood If there were one in Myakka City, I bet it would have wicked catfish. Or ask your local fleischmonger. You never know what meaty-connections these people have until you ask.

[hfwolfe.livejournal.com]

Ow- wasabi -ow.

That _was_ good.

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

I just watched the PETA episode of "Bullshit!" with Ted Nugent. Weird. He's a psychopath, or at least plays one on TV. There's no way I'm handing him my hard-earned (or at least borrowed) $$$.

[random-walker.livejournal.com]

I should ask around at the local farmers market; there is a free-range turkey farm there at least.

[hfwolfe.livejournal.com]

Really? The "Motor City Madman," The author or the critically acclaimed "Wango Tango," everyone's "Uncle Ted" is a psychopath? I refuse to allow you to libel that fine citizen.