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It's been a while since I stole borrowed another blogger's idea, but Karen over at Verbatim had an interesting post last week about a BBC poll that asked the top 50 foods everyone should try a bite of in their lifetime. Karen listed them and color-coded them based on whether or not she had tried them.

This is my kind of post so I'm going to give my take on these 50 items. I tweaked her color-coding to also show what things I really, really like and what I can't try because of my nerdish shellfish allergy.

If you really like food talk (among other things) I would definitely recommend Verbatim. Karen's Dinner and a Movie post is a typical entry from her; a movie review that comes with the recipe for her movietime dinner.

bold green text: tried, really, really like
plain black text: tried, liked
bold black text: tried, wouldn't miss if I never had again
plain red text: never tried, might try
bold red text: never tried, never will
bold blue text: never tried, allergic

1. Fresh fish
2. Lobster (tried only once, followed by whole-body rash)
3. Steak
4. Thai food
5. Chinese food
6. Ice cream
7. Pizza
8. Crab
9. Curry
10. Prawns (same as shrimp, right?)
11. Moreton Bay Bugs (Australian lobster-like crustacean)
12. Clam chowder
13. Barbecues
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 food
28. Squid
29. American diner breakfast
30. Salmon
31. Venison
32. Guinea pig
33. Shark
34. Sushi
35. Paella (a saffron-flavored dish)
36. Barramundi (Australian fish)
37. Reindeer
38. Kebab
39. Scallops
40. Australian meat pie (similar to Cornish pasty?)
41. Mango
42. Durian fruit (stenchiest fruit imaginable)
43. Octopus
44. Ribs
45. Roast beef
46. Tapas
47. Jerk chicken/pork
48. Haggis
49. Caviar
50. Cornish pasty (meat chunks, onion, potato and herbs wrapped up in a baked crust)

I can't really say that I hated anything on the list that I've tried. I'm impressed with how much of the list I have tried (amost half, which isn't bad when you rule out shellfish). I spent too much of my life being picky, so I'm still catching up. As for my favorites from the list, I would put them in this order:

Pancakes (which I would have at an American diner)
Barbeque (which would be ribs - wet)
Mexican food (probably a couple enchiladas)
Ice Cream
Pizza

My list of what people should eat in their lifetime would include:

Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
Falafel
Wasabi Soy Nuts
Bananas (on the verge of over-ripeness)
Banana Bread
Blueberry Pie
Granola
Chili (hot or sweet)
PB & J
Yogurt
Rice Pudding (w\ raisins and nutmeg)

Nothing too scary.