Here's my thoughts on the foods I did try on the list:
- Alligator: Like almost all wild game, alligator has a similar taste to chicken. I liked the Atchafalaya Alligator I had at Fat Tuesday's, but it wouldn't surprise me it was really chicken that I ate.
- Baklava: The first time I tasted it was when someone brought some into the office one day. You can always count on someone bringing baked goods in when you work for the public service.
- Barbecue Ribs: Try Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce the next time you decide to cook up some ribs; you're welcome in advance.
- Bellini: Not my first choice for a summertime beverage, but a cool, refreshing drink nonetheless.
- Calamari: Take my advice, it's better to try calamari at a restaurant that specializes in seafood, otherwise you run the risk of eating something that tastes like fried rubber bands.
- Cheese Fondue: Cheese, meat, bread, skewers, what's not to love?
- Chicken Tikka Masala: I need a find a good recipe for this, I don't go out to eat this often enough.
- Clam Chowder: This runs through my head anytime I eat it:
- Cognac: I bought a bottle back when Busta Rhymes and P Diddy did the song “Pass the Courvoisier”, I remember it livened up quite a few house parties back in the day.
- Eggs Benedict: For my money, the best Eggs Benedict in the city is at Stoneface Dolly's.
- Frogs’ Legs: My mom denies every eating frogs' legs, despite both me and my father seeing her take one off her plate, pop it in her mouth, and swallow it one time at a Chinese buffet.
- Funnel Cake: A former roommate of mine always used order one with strawberry sauce and vanilla ice cream when we went to a nearby rest-o-bar to watch "Monday Night Football", I decided to try one to see what the fuss was about. As I'm not a big dessert eater, I'll stick with wings and beer when watching sports.
- Gumbo: I recently made some gumbo using a recipe from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food: Great Food Fast cookbook.My wife and I loved it, though I wish I had used better sausages and real crab meat instead of the imitation stuff. I'll make amends next time.
- Jerk Chicken: Even though I don't like really spicy foods, I love a good piece of jerk chicken. I don't get people who insist on having the spiciest food just to show how much heat they can endure, you can't enjoy a meal if your eyes are watering and your tongue is burning.
- Lobster: That next time I have lobster, I want to have the Lobster Wellington, a dish I saw featured on "You Gotta Eat Here!", but it looks like I'll have to go Moncton's Catch 22 Lobster Bar for that meal.
- Octopus: This may be a cheat, but I enjoyed the baby octopus that found its way in a plate of calamari I had.
- Raw Oysters: I developed a taste for oysters back when I worked at a local supermarket, I used to take some of the samples that were prepared for the customers. Not bad eating for a guy making minimum wage at the time.
- S’mores: If you haven't had s'mores on a camping trip, you haven't really been camping.
- Snail: The word "snail" doesn't look appetizing on a menu, but call it escargot, you have yourself a delicacy. With enough garlic butter and cheese, anything can taste good.
- Spam: Depending on who you ask, Spam is either something you put in between two pieces of bread and stick in a lunchbox; something that clogs your inbox; an important staple in Hawaiian cuisine; or the keyword in a Monty Python sketch. I preferred the sketch over the sandwich, and I'm not that big a Python fan.
- Sweet Potato Fries: Tasty, but I prefer boring old regular spuds for my French fries.
- Venison: Back in the day a friend of my father's gave him a piece of deer meat from one of his hunting trips. I don't know if frying it a pan with some onions is the proper way to cook venison, but it tasted pretty good to me.
