When I was eight years old, I received my first-ever chain letter. In pen and ink–remember those? This was long before e-mail, before a single click of the mouse was all it took to pass on a joke/personality test/falsely attributed homily/patently ridiculous scare letter to every person you’ve ever corresponded with. Back then, chain letters took work. I rewrote the letter in my own hand and then begged my father drive me to the library, where I made however many photocopies it would take to avoid seventeen years of bad luck and/or violent death.

Being eight years old, my address book was pretty low on contacts. So I turned to the company handbook my mother kept on the bookshelf, which contained the photos and contact information for every single partner at the international, publicly traded firm she worked for.

My mother’s wrath is responsible for at least some of the abhorrence in which I hold memes. Even without the memory of her tearing out her hair because I sent an embarrassing letter–return address clearly marked–to her associates and superiors around the world, though, I have plenty of reasons to dislike memes. For example, I consider most “three hundred and fifty things you didn’t know about me” memes, unless handled extreeeeemely well, to be little more than white noise. If you’ve ever tagged me for one, please accept my belated apology. It’s not that the sentiment is not appreciated, but a meme essentially imposes content, usually off-topic, on someone else’s webspace. Even if I could bring myself to post it, I would feel far too presumptuous to tag another blogger.

That said, here’s a meme.

The beauty of this meme is that you can take it or leave it. Its author sent it out into the world with the hope that it might write home from time to time, but didn’t otherwise burden it with guilt: no tagging, no obligatory linkbacks.

And it’s good, clean, evocative fun. An occasion to revisit experiences and learn a little something about yourself, instead of just telling people about you. (Because I do that enough as it is, right?)

Before I paste my Omnivore’s 100 scorecard, I’d like to note a couple of omissions. Kumiss–fermented mare’s milk or the Mongolian half-and-half–could have been on there, as could natto, shark’s fin, or any number of controversial Asian delicacies. Not that I’m complaining–it’s just that their presence would have increased my score!

If you would like to play along, here are the rules:

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 at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

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 (Can I get half a point for having chopped a crate of bird’s eye chilis with no gloves on, which caused me to have to soak my hands in ice water for three days? This was during a restaurant trail–and I didn’t even get the job!)
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 (Not simultaneously, but c’mon.)
37. Clotted cream tea (To clarify, a Devonshire cream tea is an afternoon tea ritual in which tea is served with scones, jam and clotted cream–the cream is not placed in the tea.)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Sepunculid worms, in my case.)
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 (In the Phillippines, I picked them straight out of the sea, cracked them and scooped them onto rice.)
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 (Don’t know why I haven’t got around to this yet–I guess I’m not a big French fry eater.)
60. Carob chips (Pointless little things.)
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (Not the German version, but the kind sold on skewers at Hong Kong hawker stalls–same difference!)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis (Of course–I went to university in Scotland!)
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost (I had to look this up, and then I remembered what it was. It’s absolutely foul.)
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie (I refuse to buy shelf-stable baked goods with moist fillings. Why don’t they go bad? It’s like they’ve been embalmed.)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (Never!)
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare (I have a pet rabbit, what do you take me for?)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (Maybe? I don’t care about chocolate.)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa (I’ve had plenty of harissa but I don’t think it had rose petals in it.)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

• BROWSE
• « Banana Cream Pie For Two
• » Sortes Virgilianae, And A Sandwich

Related Posts

• A New Addition To The Masthead
• Oodles And Oodles
• The Ten Worst Things I Have Ever Cooked