The Omnivore's Hundred

Here’s a chance for a little interactivity for all the bloggers out there. Below is a list of 100 things that I think every good omnivore should have tried at least once in their life. The list includes fine food, strange food, everyday food and even some pretty bad food - but a good omnivore should really try it all. Don’t worry if you haven’t, mind you; neither have I, though I’ll be sure to work on it. Don’t worry if you don’t recognise everything in the hundred, either; Wikipedia has the answers.

Here’s what I want you to do:

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 here 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
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
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
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
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
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
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom Yam
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake

85/100 not bad.. haha!

Poached Salmon with Vegetable Mash

Weekends are for cooking! Bon Appetit!

Ingredients (serves 2)

Poaching Liquid
- 1 teaspoon of oil
- quarter teaspoon of garlic
- a chilli padi, de-seeded
- half a carrot
- a stick of celery
- half a white onion
- 2 inches of leek
- 100ml of water or stock

Salmon
- 2 100g fillets washed and patted dry
- chopped dill weed

Asparagus
- 1 packet of thai asparagus with stalks trimmed to equal lengths

Vegetable Mash
- cooked vegetables from poaching liquid
- 1 large potato
- 20g of butter
- 20ml of whipping cream
- salt and pepper

Hollandaise Sauce
- 1 egg yolk
- 50g butter, clarified
- juice of slightly less than half a lemon
- salt and pepper

Method

Poaching Liquid
- rough cut all the vegetables to small bite sized pieces
- sweat vegetables in oil, add water/stock and simmer for 10min
- drain and reserve both liquid and cooked vegetables

Vegetable Mash
- boil potato, leaving skin on
- quarter the potato and throw into food processor with cooked vegetables, butter and cream
- pulse to desired consistency and add salt and pepper to taste

Asparagus
- blanch half the packet for 1 min in poaching liquid
- soak in cold water to stop cooking

Hollandaise (i used leftover sauce from poached eggs, you can easily buy it)
- whisk egg over a pot of gently simmering water till it forms ribbons and resists the motion of your hand
- add lemon juice
- drizzle in a bit of clarified butter slowly and incorporate fully before adding more(do this slowly or the sauce will split)
- continue until all the butter is used up and you have a thick sauce
- add salt and pepper to taste

Salmon
- bring poaching liquid to a vigorous simmer
- place salmon in liquid and baste with spoon for about 6 to 7 min
(5 min for an uncooked center)

Plating
how you plate it is up to you really, just don't put the hollandaise on the poached fish because the water on the fish will make it run.

don't forget to sprinkle dill on the salmon for colour.

for dessert i whipped up...


...maple cheesecakes.