Seasonal Ontario Food

Okey-dokey. I am not actually around; I am on vacation. In Nova Scotia. Maybe I'll have a lobster, not-Thermidor. But, it was my birthday yesterday and thanks to the miracle of modern Blogger, I can set posts up in advance, and I have taken full advantage of this feature. This is not exactly a Quote of the Week; but I ran across this meme last week, and thought it would make a good little birthday review of my culinary life thus far. The source is here. Items in bold; I have had. Crossed out items, I would not have on a bet, and I would regard at least one as a form of torture. Here goes...

1. Venison
2. Nettle tea (Nettles yes; tea no.)
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 (Had not previously heard of it.)
17. Black truffle (Would somebody like to sponsor me?!)
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 ('Cuz I head straight for the jellied tongue.)
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper (Uh, how stupid do I look? Oh, yeah. That stupid.)
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda (Should do this. Have had a variety of other fondu type things though.)
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl (Clam chowder, check. Sourdough, check. But no. Not going there. Gimmick.)
33. Salted lassi(Salted...MILK??? No. Not gonna. Can't make me. I hate milk, even with salt.)
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar (Banned by the Geneva conventions.)
37. Clotted cream tea (In Devon no less! Yes, I am boasting shamelessly.)
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O (By the time you are old enough to do vodka, you are too old to do Jell-o. Srsly. Make one of my good real fruit juice jellies and skip that nasty vodka.)
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects (Whether I want to or not. Bugs think my gullet looks like a good place to be. They are wrong, but by the time they figure it out it is too late. Gag.)
43. Phaal (Had not previously heard of it.)
44. Goat’s milk (It tastes like goat which is fine really. And milk. There's the problem. Must I? Why, no! I am an adult now. Phew!)
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more(Why pay through the nose to suffer?)
46. Fugu (Oh pu-lease. Food for rich morons with a death wish.)
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut (Meh. It was a mass-produced doughnut. No need to repeat.)
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (Again, somebody want to sponsor me? But I would feel kinda guilty.)
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal (I once had one bite of a Big Mac. Sufficient for a lifetime.)
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini(Ugh, booze again.)
58. Beer above 8% ABV (What's with all the phreakin' booze?!?!)
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst (Hey, I know what this is! LOL!)
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs (Although that was before a neighbour made of with Wyatt Burp, our friendly neighbourhood frog. I was very pissed. Eat your own damn frogs.)
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake (Ha. All four.)
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette (I'm assuming tripe counts?)
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini (Not necessarily together. Still...)
73. Louche absinthe ('Cuz plain ol' booze ain't toxic enough?)
74. Gjetost, or brunost (Don't bother.)
75. Roadkill(Thought about striking this one out. What animal? Winter or *ulp* summer? And how... old....?)
76. Baijiu(I looked it up. Surprise! It's booze.)
77. Hostess Fruit Pie(Nope. Sorry. Calories get saved for real food.*)
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini (Uh, booze, right?)
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict (Yawn. Not in the last 20 years. Aren't they passée yet?)
83. Pocky (See Hostess Fruit Pies. Yeah, they're exotically foreign. Still junk.)
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant. (As ever, now accepting offers of sponsorship.)
85. Kobe beef (Ditto.)
86. Hare (Only if rabbit counts.)
87. Goulash
88. Flowers (Not all of them, duh. A select few. Edible ones.)
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate (Should. Definitely.)
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab (I wish! But I have had shad roe.)
93. Rose harissa (Rose harissa? Sounds interesting!)
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor (Would never eat if I could get a PLAIN fresh lobster! With buttah! Slice of lemon good! And a roll! Corn on the cob? Why, soitenly!)
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee (Uh, maybe, but it's been decades since coffee pretty much went the way of the booze.)
100. Snake



*Mumble, mumble. Some exceptions may apply. Mumble.