Friday, January 26, 2007

50 Things To Eat Before You Die



When I ask people in their Foodie Facebook interview the question about their last meal and what they would order, I always get a wide variety of answers. Some list a dish they associate with a favorite memory, some list their dream meal, and others merely go with the last great meal they remember eating. Obviously and naturally, people have very different ideas as to what a last meal should include, and so I was curious when I came across a list of 50 Things To Eat Before You Die that was put out by the British BBC as a result of a nation-wide poll they did.
What a bizarre, disjointed, mess of a list; however, it gets one thinking!(I’ll expound afterward)

Now before you go thinking that all this “...before you die” stuff is kind of depressing, do consider that it’s merely a way of earnestly encouraging a person to carpe diem and live a little. I’m sure you’ve seen the books like “Places to go before you die” and so on….
It is a suggestion of things that one must absolutely try in their lifetime, and if you live your life letting others tell you what to do, this is a list for you! Ouch! J/K.

While the list is no longer on the BBC website, I had no trouble finding it on the web, and so, with no further ado, here it is.
Oh, one more thing: the items I have NOT eaten are in Bold. Have you eaten everything??

BBC’s 50 Things To Eat Before You Die

  1. Fresh fish
  2. Lobster
  3. Steak
  4. Thai food
  5. Chinese food
  6. Ice cream
  7. Pizza
  8. Crab
  9. Curry
  10. Prawns
  11. Moreton Bay Bugs
  12. Clam chowder
  13. Barbeques
  14. Pancakes
  15. Pasta
  16. Mussels
  17. Cheesecake
  18. Lamb
  19. Cream tea
  20. Alligator
  21. Oysters
  22. Kangaroo
  23. Chocolate
  24. Sandwiches
  25. Greek food
  26. Burgers
  27. Mexican
  28. Squid
  29. American Diner breakfast
  30. Salmon
  31. Venison
  32. Guinea Pig
  33. Shark
  34. Sushi
  35. Paella
  36. Barramundi
  37. Reindeer
  38. Kebabs
  39. Scallops
  40. Australian Meat Pie
  41. Mango
  42. Durian
  43. Octopus
  44. Ribs
  45. Roast beef
  46. Tapas
  47. Jerk chicken/pork
  48. Haggis
  49. Caviar
  50. Cornish Pasty

So, as you can see, the list varies greatly from the hugely vague (Chinese FOOD) to the very specific (Australian meat pie). You can’t just sum up an entire ethnic cuisine like that! And if one could, it’s a little sad that all we need to try is Mexican, Chinese, Greek and Thai.(You can tell where the British vacation!) What about Italian? Spanish? Eastern Europe? Moroccan? Skip them?
They left out a lot of my favorites, too, like bagels, maple smoked bacon, wild strawberries, and cherries picked right off the tree. Heck, there isn’t a single fruit or vegetable on the list. It’s pretty sad.
50 things to eat before you die should be just that: things. A dish or one item, a specialty of a country, but not their entire cuisine. For example, New York Pizza or Thai Green Curry.

Hmm, I would love to write my own list, but I would never presume to know even 1% of all the fantastic dishes to eat all over the world, never mind pick the best ones. It’s not a bad goal, though. Travel around the world and taste the top five dishes of each country. Mmmm. Now that would be a list worth publishing.

3 comments:

Zaak said...

Correction: There are 2 fruits - Mango and Durian (I haven't had durian before either, I've heard they are pretty nasty, but those who love them, love them passionately).

I'm not sure it's a good idea to let the British make a list about food. I haven't been impressed with much English cuisine - a lot of rotten meat from what I've heard...

And Aimée, I'm not sure I will ever be able to look you in the eyes again knowing you ate a Mexican. I'm quite troubled.

Anonymous said...

Duh! Thanks, Zaak! Of course there are two fruits, silly me.

And as I always say, if you run slower than me and you taste good, pass the salt.

Anonymous said...

Tourtière is not on the list, but you can't just put "tourtiere" on the list and walk away either.

I almost got beat up by a guy at work because I called the meat pie he was eating "tourtiere". He comes from a special region of Quebec where "Tourtiere" (capitalized) is done in a roasting pan - filled to the top - with various ground meats. The region next to him has a version called "six pâtes", that is similar, but think 6 layered meat pie lasagna.

So here's to #4 Thai food and #5 Chinese food, without getting into specifics.

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