Friday, April 13, 2012

The Food List Challenge

Hola, amigos. It's been a long time since I've blogged at ya... If you've been on Facebook recently, you may have seen the latest timewaster, the Food List Challenge. For those who haven't, it's an app that allows you to check off items on a list of 100 foods to eat before you die.  I went through the list, and scored an abysmal 24%. While that is a poor score for someone who calls himself a foodie, I am looking forward to trying most of the foods on the list that I haven't eaten in order to raise my score, improve my palette, and boost my foodie cred.

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.

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