Now don't laugh but I have always wanted to try Hawaiian Shave Ice. I saw it on a tv program about ice cream and it sounds so good. It isn't sold around here. I saw a stand on Cape Cod but it was closed for the season.

I can't think of anything else right now that I want to try and haven't. I can think of a whole lot of things that I don't want to try.

I have eaten flowers -- squash blossoms. I wouldn't eat horse if you paid me. I did have kobe beef once and it was quite tender. Hmm, why would I eat a cow but not a horse?? Maybe because horses are friendlier?

The Jamaican Blue Coffee sounds interesting. I do love coffee, so I can add that to my list.

I am ashamed to admit I had a MacDonalds Big Mac meal just this last Sunday as I was driving home from the Cape. The rest stop restaurants are all fast food places and I was starving.

That list is kind of strange, but interesting. I have eaten at Le Bec Fin (5 star restaurant), but think I will skip the roadkill.

That list %($@(@!!!!!! IMHO.

Okay, unless I missed it: Good fish and chips!

Duane

I want to try truffles--anything you take a pig out into the forest and hunt for has to be fantastic! Plus, if the pig doesn't find the truffles, you still have bacon.
Also I'd like to taste cassoulet--that "throw everything in the pot" French stew. I have a recipe, but since there are only the two of us and it makes enough to feed the French army, I've never made it.
Bouillabaisse, but only if I can have it in Marsailles. You will note a French connection here. I'm in Central Texas where the local cuisine is "if it died, it's fried" and I dream of pot au feu and chateaubriand.

I have done pretty well on that list...not tried roadkill, nor rose harissa( whatever that is) nor Pocky, nor Tom yum...and I think I know what that is. Haven't had kaolin nor durian nor currywurst, nor haggis nor poutin Not trieds ea urchin nor umiboshe nor nettle tea nor crocodile but I have eaten alligator.
Not had a Jello shot either...but I know how to make them!
Linda C

Well, of the things on that list that I know what they are and/or can pronounce, I have tried most.

I can't really think of anything I have not tried in my lifetime that I feel I must . If presented with an opportunity to try something new, I usually do. That's how I know I don't like: Black Pudding, Haggis, Venison, Calamari, Escargot, Liver...and several things I do like: Eel, Prickly Pear, Frog's Legs, Crocodile...

There are a few things on the list I won't even try....insects, sweetbreads, Durian...

Linda

I'm not shy about road kill... get it fresh! Deer is the best road kill but you might need a permit to keep it. Don't worry if the meat is blood shot... looks gross but cooks up fine. You can always boil up a pot of the blood shot meat and make pet food out of it... kitty will love you forever! Game birds are good unless they got smashed real bad. With the economy going down roadkill is now considered a prize in this area with several vehicles stopping at car/deer accidents to ask about the meat.

Make that whiskey scotch! Scotch and milk if you can't afford expensive scotch.

Oysters need to be fresh and raw! Hopefully a sea side bar where you can dine on the sidewalk with a cold beer to wash them down. One of the greatest days in my life was spent on a Clearwater FL sidewalk with a tray of oysters on ice. They were $1.50 a dozen!... back in '83.

Add a fresh wintergreen berry plucked from the snow to the list. Maybe pheasant should be on the list... a unique bird flavor. Stay away from fresh steelhead trout as you will be forever spoiled when it comes to fish.

: )
lyra

I was surprised, there was only 18 I didn't know or haven't tried on your list. I don't think I would put roadkill on my list or horse. At my age, I am finding I am not as adventurous as I use to be. I have eaten a lot of different ethnic foods in 20's & 30's and now I eat what I KNOW I like. I guess I am getting set in my ways. I don't want to try any new foods except for desserts, I will always give a new one a try.
Clare

Its an intersting list indeed/

I have given it some thought and I would like to submit the following....

=Scrapple-Pa dutch treat
=New England Clam Bake-on the beach with ice cold beer
=Chesapeake Bay Crab Boil-on the beach with ice cold beer
=Jersey Tomato sandwich-thick slice tomato on white bread with mayo
=Molton Lava Cake
=Peter Lugers Strip steak with sweet potato fries
=Peeps
=My moms pepper pot soup
=Mommas meatballs
=Tony Lukes pork sandwich
=Warm fig newtons with vanilla ice cream
=Pasta carbonara
=My french onion soup

I will post more later!!

Anyone else wanna play??

Cheers!
Susie

I thought this was to be a list of things you never ate but wanted to try?
There are 24 things on that list that I have never eaten....and I thought I was a pretty adventurous foodie.
And of the things i have not eaten...I think only Criollo chocolate sounds like something I need to seek out...unless rosa harissa and Pocky are something wonderful!!
Linda c

Pocky is OK, but if you die without having eaten it, don't worry.

The list has 28 items I haven't tried. Of those, missing out on foie gras is the only one that makes me feel deprived. Well, maybe foie gras with black truffles.

Jim

great idea, susie! hmm. i am surprised at the number of foods on that list that i have eaten, as well as some that weren't. last holiday season was my first taste of real foie gras and i have to say i'll look forward to it again someday! last year was also the first time i'd even HEARD of mimolette cheese (french--sort of a cross between cheddar and parmesan) and if you are lucky enough to find any, don't pass up buying a chunk and sharing it with a friend, serving it on a plainish cracker!

i was totally thrilled to be able to spend some time with foodie friends in NY this summer and we had an (unfortunately very short, BUT!) incrediby wonderful lunch at the oyster bar at grand central terminal! get a load of that baby on the left--as big as a beef tongue but every bit as tender and tasty as the little ones!

there are a few things i really would like to try before i'm done feeling adventurous :) i really think kobe beef tops the list and i still would like to try maytag blue cheese. and how about a little fresh/uncooked truffle shaved over some pasta...lots of other things to consider and fun stuff to think about!

I too am quite adventurous... 12, I've never tried.
But it depends on why they're on the list. If it's just to be adventurous (i.e. insects (ok, but no big deal except for the yuck factor. grasshoppers are a bit peppery and nutty, ants are pretty tasteless)) or just to reach the edges of junk food as well as fine dining?

But all in all, if I'd add foods that are WORTH trying before you die IMHO, it would include:

freshly foraged morel mushrooms
freshly caught and simply pan-fried lake superior whitefish
pesto
crawfish boil
haggis (yes, I'd keep it, I loved it... very unexpectedly)
abalone (I miss being able to dive for it)
mussels meuniere with pomme frites
an outstanding vintage bordeaux (maybe 1985 or 88)
an outstanding declared vintage port
simply grilled lamb chops

I know I'll think of more....

Susie, if my husband were making the list, I think Peeps would make it to the top ten!

Ann

For the most part the things on these lists are things I'm thankful I don't have to eat. Things I would add to the list to eat before you die are:

goat cheese
Real Vermont or Wisconsin cheddar cheese
Parmigiano Reggiano
Real blackberry cobbler
Homemade ice cream
oakey chardonney
German Queen summer tomatoes

Bistilla
Geoduck
Sushi with flying fish roe
Blackberry clafouti
White truffle oil
Bango sauce
Romesco sauce
Wild Alaskan salmon

I could go on a long time on this topic!

Right now I'd like to eat anything on beverlyal's list..

One thing I've never tried, but almost made last weekend, is risotto.

Funny the odd things I have had, but then there are the more common ones I've missed. Brings to mind all the local attractions in my region that tourists never miss that I've just never made time to visit.

The initial list is interesting, but I'll pass on things like road kill & horse..

I'm hoping that AFTER I die I get to go to heavan and sample all the world's breads and desserts that I have to stay away from in this earthly life.

Things I don't get to eat enough of, but have had in my life, are fresh, homegrown fruits and vegetables.

My list isn't too big:

Molten lava cakes
More indian food like samosas, puris, parantha and rotis
Morels, chantrelles, and other fancy fungus, maybe even truffles
More exotic fruits and vegetables from tropical areas, but fresh, not like you get them in the stores.
Rosewater cakes or cookies
More fresh seafood from right near where it is caught--like Mediterraneans types. This I will probably never get to taste, unless I win the lottery.

My husband and I are going to Tokyo in October, and he really wants me to try the Fugu. He claims that no one has died from eating it, served properly in a restaurant by a trained chef, since 1986. It sounds a little scary, but I'm sure the U.S. has had plenty of deaths in that time from improperly cooked chicken or E. coli in burgers, so it seems relatively safe. The whole trip should be a culinary adventure! (I absolutely refuse to eat whale bacon while there though!)

Other than that, it's not so much certain foods I must try as it is food adventures I'd like to have. I'd love to go to New England for a clambake. Or eat fish 'n chips in a London pub. Drink coffee in a Seattle coffee shop. Go back to Italy and eat anything!

Chrissy

My additions:
Blood sausage
pickled pumpkin
:)

There are a few dozen items on that list I have never had, but I did try durian once--that was enough.

Anthony Burgess once described the experience of durian: "Dining on durian is like eating vanilla custard in a latrine."

Any foodstuff that you aren't allowed to carry on a public bus--well, that says it all.

I'll add a few that I would recommend for others; it's very difficult for me to think of something I want to try that I haven't already had. I've never had a Big Mac, but don't feel that I need to.

Sembei crackers
fresh Mamey
fresh figs
King Crab legs
aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena (aged 12 years minimum)
Coconut ice cream, made with fresh coconut on the beach
Dona tomatoes
Seafood gumbo
Fried okra
Chili sauce made from dried chilies and not powder

Lars

Oooh that reminds me Lars, I'd like to try something made with a really good mole sauce. I have some good recipes, but they aint gonna happen in my tiny kitchen.

Oh, and no one suggested Mountain Oysters?

Annie

Annie, I passed on the cigar as well and also the whiskey, which I also do not like. There were 13 on the original list that I had not tried, and that included Hostess Fruit Pie (as well as McDonald's food). I also have not been to a three star Michelin restaurant - the nearest one to me is the French Laundry Restaurant in Napa Valley, and I'm not that excited to go there, unless someone wants to take me. I'd much rather go to Urasawa sushi restaurant in Beverly Hills, which is also a much shorter drive. I like very fresh fish, and I used to go fishing with my father at various lakes in central Texas and then eat the fresh fish. The best fish we caught was perch.

Lars

Sorry, have to agree with Bunnyman on the roadkill. In a previous marriage, a lifetime ago, that was how I fed my family one summer. I was lucky enough to bring home a total of five deer that summer. Ex was too lazy to work and I didn't bring home much money making $4.25 an hour at a seasonal job. Just get it fresh and butcher it properly. Hmmm, I miss a fresh venison steak.

When I think of roadkill, I think of dead raccoon, skunk or armadillo, not very appetizing ;)

Annie, I could eat with you, but Elery...well, I don't know. Maybe he and I could just eat sorgham and bisuits and drink Apple Jack together. LOL!

Ann - "an outstanding declared vintage port". You took the words right out from under my fingers. :)

I've had all but 9 on that list. And while I wouldn't go out of my way to eat road kill, I could see where a deer (handled by someone who knew their stuff) would be OK. I wouldn't hesitate to eat horse - no diffreen than eating antelope, elk, deer, mooose...all of which I've had. I guess everyone should have Blue Mountain coffee once just so they can say they have, but it's really not all that fabulous. There's far more interesting coffeess to be had.

I'd add to the list NC pulled pork BBQ slow-cooked over hickory, Portuguese sweet bread (toasted and topped with coarse-cut orange marmalade or wild honey), rose Turkish Delight, a superior Ethiopian Harrar coffee, and warm homemade bread with real butter.

I think there is about 7 that I have not had...I would add
-Razor Clams, Pasta with Squid Ink sauce and lamb eyeballs - oh sorry that was a Reality Show thing...oops! maria

I have eaten or tasted about 3/4 of the items on the list, including just-caught sea urchins in Haiti. There are some I've had the opportunity to eat but chose not to.

One delicious and unique tasting item I'd like to add is marrowfat beans.

Great topic. My tuppence;

Bimini Conch Chowder
Cannoli
Argentine Beef
Cafe Cubano
Hearts of Palm Salad
Kim Chee

I've eaten some unusual things in my time, including many on the list, but before I die I wouldn't mind trying grits and cornbread. Just to say I've done it!

Anyone else ever eaten emu? Maybe that could go on someone's list. Or guinea pig (not for me, however).

What about sheep's eyes to go on the list? A Middle Eastern delicacy they are welcome to!

daisyduckworth,

What's keeping you from trying cornbread? :-)

As the foodie I know you are, you need to do something about that right away. Here is a cornbread recipe I consider excellent by Ronni Lundi, who has written about Southern cooking. It's quick and easy to make and very tasty.

Real Cornbread

4 tablespoons drippings (bacon drippings or cooking oil) 2 cups fine ground white cornmeal 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1 large egg 1 and 1/2 cups milk or buttermilk Turn the oven on to 450 degrees. When it starts to get hot, put the drippings in a 9 inch cast iron skillet (or small cake pan, but a skillet is what you really want). Put the skillet in the oven and let it get really hot while you mix up the batter. Mix cornmeal, salt, baking soda and baking powder together well in a bowl. Add the egg and milk and stir until just blended. Don't beat. Remove the skillet from the oven and very carefully swirl the drippings around the pan to coat the inside. Drippings should be bubbly. If you're using butter and it's browned a bit, that fine. It'll make the cornbread yummy! Pour the drippings into the cornbread batter, stir just enough to incorporate, pour the batter back into the skillet and pop into the oven. It will take 20\-25 minutes for it to turn brown around the edges and get firm in the middle. Remove and turn upside down on a sturdy plate to turn the cornbread out. (If it sticks, you can serve it straight from the pan.) Pass while it's hot. Enjoy! Jim

Thanks Jimster for the recipe (which sounds caloriffic!). My problem really is that cornmeal isn't easy to find here in Australia! In fact, I've never seen it.

Balut

I'd sure add:
fried artichokes
crab sandwich

Linda, how do you make a jello shot? I'm kinda interested you know how! That doesn't seem a lot like you.

Annie, ask Elery if it's Poke Salat or Salad. I've heard both round these parts. He'll know.

I'd like to try:

chicken cordon bleu
Yorkshire Pudding

I'm sure there's more but I can't remember right now.

rob, Elery tells me in his family it's "salad", because of his Scottish ancestry, but in German backgrounds it's "salat", which apparently is the German version of "salad"?

Annie

Jello shots couldn't be easier...
package of jello
Dissolve in a cup of hot water
When it's getting coolish and sort of thick
Add a cup of booze....and pour into shot glasses
OR...Only dissovle the jello in 1/2 a cup fo water....then add the cup of booze and pour into a flat pan to set and cut into squares...
Jello jigglers with a kick!!

I don't understand those of you who say you have tried all but 12 ior 15 of these items !!
The things I haven't tried include:
Nettle tea
Crocodile...I have eaten alligator but not crocodile
Black pudding...I know what it is buit never have eaten it
Pho...???
Aloo gobi????
Epoisses??
Raw Scotchbonnet peppers...I have smelled them....I know about habaneros...and I don't have a death wish!
Salted lassi???
I didn't smoke all the big cigar...but I took a few drags....and gummed up the end a bit!...but I sure did drink the cognac!
Phaal??
Fugu
Chicken tikimasala
umeboshi??
Paneer?
I had a half a dirty gin martini....and turned it back and asked for one without all that salty olive juice
Kaolin...I know in some circles eating clay is something...but not in my crowd!
Currywurst?
Durian...but I have eaten other strange tropical fruits
Baijui????
Tom yum....not if it's what I think it is....
Pocky
Criollo chocolate
Rose harissa??
All other things on the list I have eaten....
Now tell me truthfully, how many of the rest of you have eaten the things I have listed....and please....w.hat are some of them!!??
Linda C

Things on your list I have had:

Pho - Vietnamese beef broth based meal in a bowl. There are pho restaurants.
Raw Scotchbonnet peppers - Nibbled a bit. Painful!
Umeboshi - Japanese dried sweet salty pickled plum.
Paneer - Indian fresh cheese.
Dirty gin martini - I used to always make them this way. I thought it was my original idea. Don't care for it any more.
Kaolin - Main ingredient of Kaopectate. I don't consider it food. I also made porcelain pottery, which I believe was kaolin based, but I didn't eat it.
Pocky - A little Japanese pastry stick dipped in candy.

Jim

Well...I guess I have had Kaolin in kaopectate....but there are people who eat kaolin clay.
But what on the list have you NOT eaten?
Iw ill be searching for Pocky though!

Pocky can be found in most Asian markets. I buy it for the kids sometimes. You haven't missed much. A snack I like better is ajitsuke nori (little seasoned seaweed squares) that is sold in little chewing gum like packages.

Pho is worth seeking out. A pho restaurant will have many variations on their menu. It comes with all sorts of garnishes and sauces to fix it up the way you want. It's one of those things to enjoy in a restaurant, not to make at home, although you could.

There are 28 items on the original list I haven't had.

Jim

I have only had 25 of the listed items. You couldn't pay me to smoke the cigar (but I would gladly drink the cognac), I would only eat fugu or insects if I was starving, and as regards the Scotch Bonnet peppers, my raw chili limit is Cayennes, although I have eaten chili sauce made with hotter peppers.

I can make or get my hands on all of the rest, but I am in no hurry to do so.

As to eating horse, which some people said they would never do, you can substitute it in any recipe you have for lean beef and a lot of people wouldn't even notice the difference. Therefore having eaten it is only a measure of how adventurous an eater you are (and only if you come from a non-horse-eating culture), not that it's some kind of must-have delicacy (although I do prefer the taste of the meat from a 4-5 month old colt to that of the best veal).

I've eaten horse, during the PBB scandal when all the cattle were poisoned and dropping over from PBBs in the cattle feed.

LindaC, I bought Pocky at my local Meijer's and sent it to dishesdone, they had a chocolate and a strawberry version. Ashley says she's gotten it at WalMart right next to the college, it's a cookie shaped long and thin, not as big around as a pencil and dipped in chocolate or strawberry fudge.

I have eaten crocodile AND alligator, and black pudding which Grandma used to call blood sausage.

Nettle tea tastes icky and "green" but is supposed to be a diuretic and make your hair shiny, I can't figure out what the heck those two things have to do with each other, but I've tasted it because it's also supposed to be helpful for anemia. I didn't see that it helped.

I had chicken tiki masala at a restaurant in Ann Arbor with Elery. It was basically a chicken dish with a curry kind of sauce over rice. Eh. I'm not a huge fan of curry.

Paneer? Elery likes cheese. A lot. So we tried this, it kind of reminded me of the homemade yogurt cheese I make by putting yogurt in a strainer and letting it drain for several hours.

Criollo chocolate is just a variety of cocoa bean. It's expensive and I found it to be very mild, I wasn't all that impressed with THAT either. I think I bought it at Fresh Market, and everything there is expensive so maybe that's just why it cost more.

Tom Yum is just soup. I think it had coconut milk in it and it kind of reminded me of Chinese hot and sour.

Annie

Find the guts to try a lot of the stuff in the frozen section of an Asian grocery store. :-) pig feet, chicken feet, octopus feet, cow feet, and on and on down the isle. Yes, I was just in a HUGE Asian store.