Goodbye, New Cross

Image with thanks from http://love4culture.com/

After 3 years living in New Cross, it's time to move on. I'm sure my parents will breathe a sigh of relief after two muggings in a year - look, one was in Brockley alright? - but as rough round the edges as New Cross was, there will be a lot of things I'll miss having in close proximity. Smokey Jerky, virtually next door was my go-to stalwart for excellent jerk chicken.

Brockley Market is really taking its stride. I visited on their opening week and only once more last weekend, which I'm kicking myself for because now I'll actually have to get a bus to get my mitts on another one of Mike & Ollie's fried mackerel wraps. Wrapped in flatbread, the mackerel is fresh and smoky. Nestled with garlic and cauliflower puree, the wrap is finished with a bundle of red cabbage, a plucking of mint leaves and ribbons of carrot. Crunch is added with a handful of seeds and it is gloriously messy, sat as I was in the winter sunshine taking huge bites and avoiding globs from dolloping onto my shoes.

Though in Deptford, I spent many a Saturday lunchtime walking over to Panda Panda for one of their banh mis, still the best I've tried in London. Crunchy pickled vegetables and a few slivers of chilli formed a base for this sandwich, stuffed to the gills with pork. Of the bubble teas pineapple was my favourite, and my friends went nuts for the milkshake options, to be made with whichever chocolate bar you choose. Chaconia's is also in Deptford and often is a time I've craved their Trini curry-stuffed rotis.

Recently, a new shop called The Allotment opened up on the New Cross Road negating the need to spend vast quantities on insipid fruit and vegetables at the Sainsburys near by. Well set out within, the fruit & veg was well priced and fresh.

Lastly, it is with sadness that I read that The Montague Arms is under threat. This ramshackle old building that once had 'COACH PARTIES WELCOME' emblazoned across its side is an absolute gem. Inside, the place is decorated with fairy lights and relics like stuffed deer heads and old diving suits. I was a regular on a Thursday night when beers were £2.20, and the Sunday roasts were homely and plentiful. The old couple who ran it were always smiling and pleasant, I admired them for their energy so I was saddened to read of their passing. Fingers crossed for the best outcome.

If you're still not convinced of New Cross' awesomeness you need to check out New Cross is Better Than New York.Also, Goldsmiths' video on South East London is worth a watch.

Goodbye New Cross! I'm only going a few miles down the road to East Dulwich but I'll miss it nonetheless.

Toasted Sandwiches

I don't know anyone who doesn't like toasted sandwiches. What's not to like? Earlier this week, images of Mishkin's Reuben sandwich in the morning paper haunted me for many hours. For me, an absolute must is cheese. Without that oozy, gooey quality you're better off leaving it untoasted.

I was offered a Waring sandwich toaster (£50) to review. It's the deep fill sort, and the leaflet that came with it proclaimed that you could also make an omelette or puff pastry fruit turnovers in them. I tend to have omelettes with something in the centre though so I'm not quite sure how it would work that way, so I stuck to toasties.

The sandwich toaster needs to get to optimum temperature first, which gives you plenty of time to construct your sandwich. Simplicity won over and a cheese and tomato toastie was tested first. Set to high, the dial felt a bit plasticky and cheap, but once toasted the sandwich that came out was a fine one; brown and crisp on the outside, well melted cheese within and the tomatoes atomically hot, ready to surprise you and burn the inside of your mouth out.

Garlicky mushrooms mixed with creme fraiche and spinach also worked well and made a quick dinner in front of the TV. It's convenient too as both sides have a quick release button for easy cleaning. I couldn't help but think though that this was another counter top appliance that I don't have the space for. Once done with, it is confined to wherever I can find to stash it. Although it toasts sandwiches well, I've managed to do the same with a frying pan and a heavy dish on top, squishing the sandwich down, for a while now.

For more sandwichism and where to find the best in London, check out the all new London Review of Sandwiches.

Top 5 of 2011

Toptable asked me to submit my top 5 restaurants of 2011 and I went for a couple of the obvious and a couple off the beaten track. I tried to steer clear of my Top 10 of 2010 just for some variation, and here they are:

1. Jose - good lord those prawns. That jamon. The bustling atmosphere.

2. The Heron - FIRE! In my face!

3. Dragon Palace - Still the best steamed dim sum I've had in London.

4. Chaconia - Soft, pliable rotis stuffed with curry. I've only been twice but I get such a warm welcome.

5. Meat Liquor - Burgers, cocktails and you leave with a mild sense of sleaze. I am obsessed with their deep fried pickles.

The worst?

That goes to Fish! in Borough Market. I visited with my parents and a friend and a rude, sarcastic waiter should probably be looking to work in a different industry. Depressingly packed to the rafters, the room was loud and uncomfortable; waiting staff pushed past my chair to get to other tables. I had to ask THREE times to order some wine; I get grouchy when I am denied booze. To top it all off, £50 per head for two mediocre courses and no sides. Avoid like the plague.

So, what did I miss? Where should I be going immediately?

To see other bloggers' Top 5, click here.

Meat Liquor

Meat Liquor, the 3 year outpost from the people who brought you the #MEATEASY, is now open. 90 covers and in W1, the menu consists of the legendary burgers, wings and even deep-fried pickles, amongst other such tastiness. When I went to the opening party the party sized food was as great as I remember (in fact, we almost fought over it...), the jam jar cocktails as delicious / potent too. It's now on 72 Welbeck Street so nice and central. Off you pop.

The website says 11.11.11 but it has opened early, 5pm every day this week; next week they'll start doing lunchtime service.

Why I'm Not Writing for London Confidential Anymore

I shan't be writing for London Confidential anymore.

This is why:

9:30 AM (1 hour ago)

Hi X, X,

Finally, I have been paid, a full 10 days after it should have been. This late payment of over £600 to my account was quite unacceptable; I was almost unable to pay my rent. When you set us a deadline of getting our invoices over to you by the 25th (or the 19th, in some cases) of each month, to then be supposedly paid on the 7th, that gives you two whole weeks to pay them. I can't understand why my payment was so late. Especially when you confirmed to me, previous to the 7th, that all the invoices had been received. I worked in Accounts Payable for a company of over 500 people; it really is not that difficult. I know this.

I went two months without payment which was rightfully due to me; firstly, through incompetence on your side by not informing me of your address change - a rather crucial piece of information, since you insist on the antiquated way of posting by mail the invoices (are we back in the 90s?). I find it completely absurd that when I got my invoices to the correct address (after my invoices were returned to me as I'd had them registered - thank god) two days late, I was denied payment for another month because it was merely two days late. And your company had the audacity to withhold payment from me two weeks?

Given that I wrote restaurant reviews for your website without payment for my time or writing, I would have thought you would reimburse me in a timely fashion for the cost of the meals. You were getting the reviews effectively written for you for free. Do you have over £600 that you can bandy about, to sit around waiting for? I certainly don't and now I've been charged interest on my credit card because your company couldn't keep up their side of the bargain. I was, effectively, paying to write for you and that's not right.

I really think you should review the way you are paying people contributing to your website, but I won't be anymore.

I wish you the best in your endeavor.

Best,
Lizzie"

I received a response:

"Dear Mrs Mabbot,

I have been sent your email by X. It's not often I receive comments like this in this day and age, when freelancers are losing their opportunity to have their writing published and possibly paid for as print media is sliding down a black hole.

Frankly, not even gifted freelance writers would send Confidential notes like these , let alone an un-gifted amateur.

Confidential is a self-funding organisation which relies upon business paying its bills on time. It is a labour of love for me and has taken seven years to grow from my own personal food blog to where it is today, arguably the largest of its kind in the world in both terms of readership, income and articles. We continue to win awards, the latest being Magazine of the year in the North West.

Everyone who works and writes with knows that they are not working for NewsCorp; sometimes bills are delayed, and the past six weeks have been difficult but everyone has pulled together.

Reading your note you clearly are not a Confidential type. Reading your articles it becomes even clearer. You should not be writing alongside my team, it does you no favours.

So, allow me to give you some feedback for your tight, fairly well written petit-bourgeois note. Stick it up your fat, suburban arse.

Mark Garner

Publisher

The Confidentials."



EDIT: Thank you all for your comments. Just to clarify;

- The money I was chasing was expenses, not salary. I was not getting paid for the writing, that was the agreement.

- my invoices said payment due by return.

- yes, my email was snarky, but I had been chasing them for two weeks, to be told on falsely at different points that they had been paid, when they had not.

- perhaps I was unprofessional, but I did not make an attack on Mr Garner's personal appearance.

- I have not got a fat arse.


(Please feel free to leave a comment, but please also refrain from making personal remarks about Mr Garner. I won't publish them. Thanks!)

Public Service Announcement - 16 Days at The Rye

We've already missed Creperie Nicolas, dammit, so get your asses down to The Rye, Peckham, SE15 3NX this week for other street food stalls.

I, for one, plan on stuffing my face with at least a few tacos, a load of chocolate, more than 3 hot dogs and the rest of it. You should too. (Unless you're a vegan. I suspect there's not much there for you.)

Airport Ramen

Airport ramen

I've just spent the last two weeks travelling across Malaysia, finally culminating in Bangkok. We ate so much it'll take me a good few days to recover and to collect my thoughts, but meanwhile I'll leave you with my 6am bowl of ramen at Bangkok airport, devoured after 8 hours of boozing and one hour's sleep.

The flight home was interesting. To say I resembled and smelt like a drunkard would be an understatement.

Toot Toot

That's the sound of me blowing my own trumpet. Turn away now to avoid some shameless self-promotion...

I'm in April's edition of Red Magazine for their '20 Women to Watch Under 30' feature, out now.

I'm in some pretty illustrious company - god only knows why they asked lil' ol' me to be in it, but buy the magazine to see it in full colour glory. And to read about some interesting 20-something year olds.

(Picture taken from their online edition.)

Top 10 Dishes of 2010

I like lists, especially when I get to look back on the nice things I ate. In no particular order, here are my top ten dishes that I ate in 2010 - some of them from restaurants, some of them my recipes.

Beef Rendang - so rich, so tasty.


Stuffed artichoke at The Magdalen Arms, Oxford - I kept meaning to recreate this but never got round to it, so it is now but a happy memory.

1.2kg bone-in ribeye at Hawksmoor, that I demolished in under 20 minutes as part of a bet. It still stands as the best steak I've had yet. It was bigger than my head.


Scallops with horseradish snow and kohlrabi, at The Ledbury. Pure joy.

Cheese souffle in double cream at Le Gavroche - unbelievably light and unbelievably decadent. Eating it was a happy memory.

I wailed when I found out that osso bucco was no longer on the menu at Polpetto, but its replacement, beef cheeks with polenta was a more than adequate substitute. How do they get their polenta so creamy? I love it.

Salted caramel butter. Holy shit, that was one sexy ice cream.

Cold udon with miso and walnut hot broth at Koya. I get weekly cravings for this and it's a favourite lunch spot.

Perhaps the most recent addition in that I ate it last night, but the Veal Holstein at Bob Bob Ricard truly is outstanding. The deeply savoury 'secret sauce' bursts out from underneath the breaded veal, lubricating the truffled mash.

The pork and century egg congee, from Hong Kong City, a few doors down from my flat. The pork is always gorgeously tender, and it's a life-saver having it so near; many a time I've staggered over in my pyjamas poorly concealed by an overcoat to get my restorative takeaway congee that soothes and nourishes.


So, they were my favourite dishes of 2010. And what about the worst?

That accolade can only go to Cantina Laredo's vomit-inducing chicken mole. Five months later and I am still traumatised.

Top Ten UK Restaurants

Toptable asked me for my top ten restaurants, so here they are. Do you have any others to add to my list? Agree? Disagree? Couldn't give two shits...?

Jinkichi, Hampstead & The Food Guide

I like lists. I write a lot of them, taking deep satisfaction in ticking them off, and mild panic when they sit there, taunting me. I have a list for daily to-dos, a list for must-visit restaurants, a list for must-cook recipes; it's never ending. The Sunday Times has produced a list of its own in association with Harden's. Having spoken to the editor of this list while dining at Jinkichi, a Japanese restaurant in Hampstead, she told us that this list is based on food alone. No scores for ambience, none for service; just down to the nitty gritty - food.

I'm in two minds as to how I feel about that. While undoubtedly food is the most important element, an average experience can be lifted by great service, or ambience. However, this list is also a powerful tool because of its Harden's connection; it's not a list based on AA Gill's taste, or Coren's fancies. Instead, it's a number of people's views. It goes live at midnight on Sunday and in addition to Sunday's supplement you can find The Food List here. Sorry, but it's behind the paywall. You may be interested to hear that Gidleigh Park in Devon is ranked number one ahead of The Fat Duck.

Still, what of Jinkichi? It's ranked number 72 on the list. We had a selection of skewers:

Pork with shiso leaves - these were excellent. Smoky meat was decently fatty with citrus tang of the shiso.

Chicken balls were the least adventurous of our choices. They were surprisingly soft, none of that bounce I had expected.

Chicken gizzards were exact opposite. Gristly, chewy (and this is a good thing) and satisfyingly chickeny.

Ox tongue skewers had a lovely bounce to them; these were my favourite.

We had a hell of a lot of deep fried stuff too.

Agedashi tofu were beautifully crisp, though I was disappointed that they were made with quite firm tofu. I'm told a lot of places now do this as it's easier to handle.

Tempura again showed that someone was adept at the fryer.

Chicken karage was served with a ponzu dipping sauce which was spicy and full of mouth tingling freshness. Deep fried octopus was rather pointless; you couldn't tell it was octopus, it was just a texture in batter.

As if that wasn't enough, we ordered some other bits. Standouts in particular:

Grilled salmon jaw. Perfectly cooked and the grated daikon accompaniment was very moreish. Black cod miso was similarly excellent.

Nigiri and sashimi were all good, fresh examples but I particularly enjoyed the cubes of tuna sashimi with natto. I asked for it as I'm determined not to let my first experience of natto put me off; this was far more subtle and enjoyable.

All washed down with some Sapporos and a sake, it was an excellent meal. Hampstead is a bit bloody far though.

Jinkichi

73 Heath Street
London NW3 6UG

Tel: 020 7794 6158

Intermission

I've gone to Nicaragua. Thanks to the volcanic ash cloud, my trip was delayed by 5 days, but I'm finally on my way. Hooray!

Back in two weeks.

Help! Any Lithuanians out there...?

So, I'm taking part in Eating Eurovision. The premise is that 25 food bloggers pick a country each (from a hat, I hasten to add) and off we go, in search of food experiences.

I picked Lithuania.

Here's my plea for help - do you know any good Lithuanian restaurants? A secret (or not so) Lithuanian community? A good bar where Lithuanians hang out? I have to go tonight so speedy answers are much appreciated!

Intermission

You may (or may not) have noticed that I've gone a bit radio silent - this is due to starting a new job, and also moving house. Apparently these are in the top 5 stressful things to put yourself through, along with organising a wedding and the death of a relative. Thankfully I am not going through the latter two.

So, unfortunately thanks to BT, I will not have an internet connection for a good two weeks or so. Pffft.

Oooh - Check Me Out

Fame, at last!

Well, not quite. But many thanks to Simon Majumdar of Dos Hermanos who listed me as 7th on his article of 'Top 10 Blogs for the Home Cook' in the Times. I'm flattered!

Perfect Saturday in London - The Round Up

Taken somewhere near London Bridge

A few weeks ago, Krista from Londonelicious put the call out to London bloggers: What's your idea of a perfect Saturday in London? The American girl who likes food and London but not cooking wined and dined her way around town and wrote about it here in the post that kicked it all off. Others quickly followed, posting their idea of a perfect Saturday in London. So whether you've always lived in London, or whether you're just visiting for the weekend and want to experience London as a local, here's some inspiration for you and all of your Saturdays. Now get yourself out there and explore!

ML at SPAstic, Tales from a London Spa takes you around South Kensington and Notting Hill for a culture-filled day that ends in Holland Park.

Su-Lin at Tamarind & Thyme gets some culture AND shopping in as she trolls central London, with the riches she imagines.

Two entries from Mini-et-moi, a great site for modern mums in London. Sarah takes in Marylebone and The London Transport Museum while Michelle explores the South Bank, tots in tow.

Gourmet Chick hits all the foodie haunts--Ottolenghi, high tea at The Ritz, and Borough Market.

Danielle at Bloody Brilliant starts with a full English and then heads east to explore Brick Lane and Spitalfields.

Over at Gourmet Larder, Gregory begins his day in Borough and then works his way south through Clapham and Vauxhall.

Leah from Curiosity and The Cupcake arrives at Broadway Market bright and early and then enjoys a leisurely stroll through Victoria Park and east London.

Christine over at If Music Be The Food of Love has a musical slant to her day as she explores Hampstead and hits the town with her idol.

Blogger Priyanka begins at Cafe au Lait in Brixton and ends her day at Meson De Felipe and The Beehive in Borough.

Another blogger choosing to start around Borough Market. Helen at Food Stories kicks off her Saturday with a visit to Tower Bridge, wanders over to Borough and then ends her day with a visit to Shunt and by checking out Dinner in The Sky.

Lizzie of Hollow Legs (that's me, of course) is very busy geographically and takes us through Blackheath, North Greenwich, Trafalgar Square, Belgravia, Shoreditch, Whitechapel, and then back to Shoreditch.

Charles of London guide Tipped.co.uk and his own blog, Grumblemouse, spends his perfect day in Islington, The City, Borough Market, Greenwich, and Shoreditch.

And finally, new-to-the-scene Liz (of Liz Does London, not to be confused with Lizzie above) hits Chelsea, Hyde Park, Notting Hill, and Parson's Green.

I think that's everyone. Thanks to all the great bloggers who contributed their perfect Saturday. Please feel free to republish this post on your own blog and add your own perfect Saturday...in London, or elsewhere.

A Perfect Saturday in London

Krista of Londonelicious has called for bloggers to blog their 'Perfect Saturday in London'. So here's mine.

I'm not much of an early riser (this here is the understatement of the year) but since I have a lot to fit in, we start at:

9:30am It will, of course be a perfectly sunny day. I like to walk; I do at least 3 miles a day, if not more. I leave the house and walk to Blackheath, a rather pleasant and tree-lined 40 min stroll. At Blackheath, I jump on the 108 to North Greenwich.

10:30am I arrive at the Peninsula Restaurant at the Holiday Inn, North Greenwich to join the masses for a dim sum breakfast / brunch. North Greenwich is a strange, deserted place full of new builds, the O2 and motorways. I swear I see tumbleweed roll past in the distance, but the restaurant takes me straight back to the dim sum places in Hong Kong. It's usually heaving and very noisy, often not an English word heard.

11:45am Sufficiently stuffed, I jump on the Jubilee line to London Bridge (15 mins) and walk to Borough Market. Batting aside the crowds, I grab a pint of mulled cider and 6 oysters. These are slurped / drank in the shadow of the church.

1pm Back to the overland at London Bridge to catch a Southeastern to Charing Cross (11 min). I walk past Trafalgar Square to the National Portrait Gallery (my favourite of London galleries I've been to so far) and have a potter around inside. A cup of over-priced coffee (you're not in London if you're not being ripped off) in the cafe to revive my mulled-cider-brain.

3:30pm Leaving the gallery, I then walk (25 min) down to Lanesborough Hotel for Afternoon Tea, more specifically the Belgravia Tea. I haven't been before, but it's been on the list for ages.

6pm Leaving the Lanesborough, I jump on the tube (30 mins) to Old Street. A few beers in The Reliance - they have Scrumpy Jack on tap. I like.

8pm Jump on the 205 to Tayyabbs (via an offie to pick up more beers for the inevitable queue). Lots of grilled lamb chops.

11pm I waddle off, home-bound. Or, more likely than not, we head to Catch on Kingsland Road for a boogie and I end up having to catch a miserable night bus. Wait - this is the perfect Saturday, right? In that case, I am chauffered home by a taxi.

The Chinese One Hundred

Out of the Omnivore's Hundred came this; The Chinese One Hundred. This was created by Diana over at Appetite For China and I had to give it a go.

So copy it, paste it, highlight the ones you've tried and link it back to Appetite For China. Let's see how we get on...

Almond Milk
Ants Climbing A Tree - glass noodles with pork - not literal!)
Asian pear - only the best hangover cure ever
Baby bok choy - sweet and delicious
Baijiu - A Chinese distilled liquour. I was quite young. It tasted awful.
Beef brisket - I'm not sure why this is particularly Chinese, unless it means the stewed beef brisket, 'ngau lam' in Cantonese. Delicious, especially with tendons in noodle soup.
Beggar's Chicken
Bingtang Hulu
Bitter melon
Bubble tea - love it. Especially with big black tapoica pearls.
Buddha's Delight - aka. Monk's Vegetables
Cantonese roast duck - so good. I haven't yet recreated it at home.
Century Egg, or thousand-year egg - the last time I ate this I was horrendously hungover, having dim sum with my parents. My mum ordered it to spite me, I'm sure!
Char Siu (Cantonese roast pork)
Char kway teow - fried ho fun
Chicken feet - I can take them or leave them really.
Chinese Sausage - I prefer the less livery ones.

Chow mein - not a big fan. If it has to be fried noodles, make them ho fun please.
Chrysanthemum Tea (pic to the right)

Claypot rice
Congee - my grandmother made this for me when I was ill, adding dried scallops. I used to will myself to be sick just for it.
Dried Scallops - See above.

Crab rangoon - I had to look this up and got this: "Crab rangoon are deep-fried dumplings served in American Chinese restaurants, stuffed with a combination of cream cheese, lightly flaked crab meat with spring onions and/or garlic. These fillings are then wrapped in Chinese wonton wrappers in a triangular or flower shape, then deep fried in oil". This sounds horrible. Thank god I haven't had it.
Dan Dan Noodles - most recently at Baozi Inn
Dragonfruit
Dragon's Beard Candy - currently there is a stall in Chinatown selling it.
Dried cuttlefish
Drunken Chicken
Dry Fried Green Beans

Egg drop soup
Egg rolls - I first thought this referred to the sweet egg pastry rolled into cigar shapes you can buy in big tins at New Year. These are also good.
Egg tart, Cantonese or Macanese - Cantonese is my favourite.
Fresh bamboo shoots - oooh - not fresh, I don't think.
Fortune cookies
Fried Milk
Fried rice
Gai lan (Chinese broccoli)
General Tso's Chicken (picture to the right)
Gobi Manchurian

Goji berries (Chinese wolfberries)
Grass Jelly - not actually made from grass.

Hainan chicken rice - The best I had was at the Shangri-La in Singapore when I was about 10. I still dribble at the memory.
Hand-pulled noodles
Har Gau (steamed shrimp dumplings in translucent wrappers. Not very easy to make, as I demonstrated recently.)
Haw Flakes - sweets. Any Brits I ever offered it to never liked it, although why I have no idea.
Hibiscus tea
Hong Kong Style Milk Tea - my grandmother made it best.

Hot & Sour Soup - still one of my favourites.
Hot Coca-Cola with Ginger
Hot Pot
Iron Goddess Tea (Tieguanyin) - no idea. Probably.
Jellyfish - I particularly like it cold, dressed in sesame
Kosher Chinese Food - no idea.

Kung Pao Chicken - Fuschia Dunlop's recipe is lovely
Lamb skewers (yangrou chua'r)
Lion's Head meatballs
Lomo Saltado - never heard of it
Longan fruit
Lychee
Macaroni in soup with Spam - my favourite, especially with a fried egg on top.
Malatang - a Beijing speciality, apparently
Mantou, especially if fried and dipped in sweetened condensed milk
Mapo Tofu - one of my favourites.
Mock meat
Mooncake (bonus points for the snow-skin variety) - red bean paste ones are the best. I do hope they import some snow skin varieties this year!
Nor mai gai (chicken and sticky rice in lotus leaf)
Pan-fried jiaozi
Peking duck - In Beijing, no less.
Pineapple bun
Prawn crackers - is there anyone who hasn't?
Pu'er tea - ?
Rambutan
Red bean in dessert form - red bean ice lollies are best, but the pancakes are also good. Anyone got a recipe?
Red bayberry
Red cooked pork
Roast pigeon - we used to go to a restaurant on Lamma Island that did them well. My sister liked to suck the heads of the pigeons.
Rose tea
Roujiamo
Scallion pancake
Shaved ice dessert
Sesame chicken
Sichuan pepper in any dish
Sichuan preserved vegetable (zhacai)
Silken tofu
Soy milk, freshly made - my mum makes it all the time
Steamed egg custard - urgh. Too eggy for my liking.
Stinky tofu - and my god does it stink.
Sugar cane juice
Sweet and sour pork, chicken, or shrimp - mostly in England.
Taro
Tea eggs
Tea-smoked duck
Turnip cake (law bok gau) - possibly the best bit about New Year.
Twice-cooked pork
Water chestnut cake (mati gau)
Wonton noodle soup
Wood ear
Xiaolongbao (soup dumplings)
Yuanyang (half coffee, half tea, Hong Kong style)
Yunnan goat cheese

So I make that 78. What's your score?

The Omnivore's Hundred

Just a bit of fun for a Friday night really. In preparation for an upcoming debauched long weekend, I thought it best to stay in and what better way to spend your time...

The idea behind the Omnivore's Hundred is to copy and paste this list, highlight in bold which ones you've eaten and cross out which ones you wouldn't even consider. I've done it in red as I can't find a crossy outty function.

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 - I dread to think what was in it, but inebriated at 3am in Soho... well, it tasted alright. Ish.
16. Epoisses - Not really, but does Munster count?
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 - I want this. NOW.
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float - why ruin a root beer with ice cream?
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 - not through lack of trying. I WANT.
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 - If this is what I think it is... does Immodium count?
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 - eurgh. That was a bad night.
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini
81. Tom yum
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 - When I was about 11 I saw a baby bamboo snake meet it's death from the underside of a man's shoe. Just the sight of snakes makes me feel queasy and a little sweaty. No way.

59 / 100 aint bad in my 21 years, I suppose.