The Kiwi Tucker Test

In my travels on the foodie blog trail, I've frequently come across the Omnivore's Hundred, and recently spotted the British Hundred. The first is a list of things that every good omnivore should try to eat at least once in their life, while the second is in a similar vein but covers only British food. Doing these challenges, I felt somewhat diminished by how little of the stuff on those lists I've actually eaten. I'll be honest, I've hardly even heard of a lot of these things. And I've spent a reasonable amount of time in the UK, though admittedly I was on the bones of my @$$ and could barely afford to eat, much less engage in far-reaching gastronomical endeavours.

So here's my challenge to the Brits, and anyone else who would like to see how much good New Zealand food they've really eaten: Take the Kiwi Tucker Test (the New Zealand One Hundred, shall we say?) and see how much Puha, Hangi and Kina you've eaten! Also open to Kiwis, Ozzies, and anyone else willing to give it a try.

I came to realise something while writing this list. Since I tried to exclude recent multicultural influences that feature strongly in local cuisine (such as Turkish, Chinese, Indian, Thai and Japanese, for example) but made an effort to include Maori and Pacific foods and local regional delicacies, it became clear that our British and American (or in my case Canadian) influences tend to lean towards the staid and not terribly healthy unless there's a huge swathe of veges on the side of the plate. So it's jolly good that Chicken Chowmein, Lamb Korma, Sushi and Beef Kebabs have made their way into our tummies and livened up what must have been a pretty bland palate for our parents' generation. With that in mind, I've avoided including those influences on this list in an effort to represent the taste of New Zealand as I remember it as a kid, before things got so flash and tasty. Would I go back to only eating food that features on the Kiwi Tucker Test? HA! No way.

My rules (just like the others):
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment at http://freshly-ground.blogspot.com/ linking to your results.

1. Sausage sizzle
2. Puha
3. Watercress
4. Whitebait Fritters
5. Train Smash (luncheon and sauce rolled up together)
   
6. Kina
7. Marmite
8. Weetbix
9. L & P
10. Watties' Tomato Sauce
11. Muttonbird
12. Yams
13. Taro
14. Weta
15. Huhu grub
16. Roast Chicken
17. Pavlova
18. Mince & Cheese Pie
19. Fish & Chips
20. Hokey Pokey Ice Cream
21. Milo
22. Hokey Pokey Ice Cream with Milo
23. Terakihi
24. Manuka Honey
25. Gisborne Oranges
26. Potato Top Pie
27. Anzac Biscuits
28. Mr Hutton's Double Cheese Sizzlers
29. Pipis
30. Oysters fresh off the rocks
31. Weka
32. Spaghetti from a tin
33. Watermelon from a roadside stand
34. Kumera
35. Rewa Bread
36. Samosas
37. Rhubarb Crumble
    
38. Vegemite
39. 'Tasty' Cheese
40. South Island Apricots
41. Hawkes Bay Chardonnay
42. Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc
43. Mac's Gold Beer
44. Bell Tea
45. Golden Syrup
46. Mixed Grill Breakfast (Sausages, Bacon, Eggs, Hashbrowns, Toast, Tomato)
47. Sausage Roll
48. Mince on Toast
49. Packet Macaroni Cheese
50. Chip Butties
51. Smoked Eel
52. Cookie Time Cookie
53. Watercress
54. Pork Boil-Up
55. Vogel's Bread
56. 2 Minute Noodles
57. Corned Silverside
58. Rabbit Stew
59. Blackberries picked from the side of the road in February
60. Homemade Plum Jam
61. Any Burger with a big slice of beetroot in it
62. Toffee Pops
    
63. Marinated Mussels
64. Hundreds & Thousands
65. Twisties
66. Wine Biscuits
67. Gingernuts
68. Foxton Fizz
69. Leed Lemonade (you'll have to be at least as old as me to remember that one)
70. Cream Donuts
71. Rasberry Buns
72. BBQ Steak AND Sausage AND Chops (all at once)
73. Coleslaw
74. Cold Potato Salad
75. Christmas Pudding
76. Sherry Trifle with fruit
77. Jaffas
78. Fresh Snowpeas eaten straight from the pod
79. Moro Bar
80. Tip Top Trumpet
81. Cheese, Pineapple & Onion Toasted Sandwiches
82. Coromandel Smoked Mussels
83. Fresh Coconut
84. Greggs' Instant Pudding
85. Crayfish
86. Summer Salad: Lettuce, Tomato, Cucumber, Beetroot, Cheese
87. Honeysuckle Nectar
88. Bluff Oysters
89. Raro
90. Chicken Roll
91. Cheerios (Not the cereal - little red sausages)
    
92. Mallowpuffs
93. Wild Pork
94. Red Lamington
95. Feijoas
96. Kiwifruit
97. Summer Strawberries
98. Chokos
99. Pineapple Lumps
    
100. Whittakers Peanut Slabs
     

And for anyone who's interested in how I did on the other two, read on:

The Omnivore's Hundred

Here are the rules if you would like to play along…
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.

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
16. Epoisses
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 (caramel)
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
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
50. Sea urchin (Kina)
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone (Paua)
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
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
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

The British Hundred, at Food Stories

1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Link back to Food Stories, if you would be so kind.

1. Grey squirrel
2. Steak and kidney pie
3. Bubble and squeak
4. Spotted dick
5. Hot cross buns
6. Laver Bread
7. Toad in the hole
8. Shepherds pie AND cottage pie
9. Scotch egg
10. Parkin
11. Welsh rarebit
12. Jellied eels
13. Stilton
14. Marmite
15. Ploughman’s lunch
16. Cucumber sandwiches
17. Coronation chicken
18. Gloucester old spot
19. Cornish pasty
20. Samphire
21. Mince pies
22. Winkles
23. Salad cream
24. Malt Loaf
25. Haggis
26. Beans on toast
27. Cornish clotted cream tea
28. Pickled egg
29. Pork scratchings
30. Pork pie
31. Black pudding
32. Patum Peperium or Gentleman’s relish
33. Earl grey tea
34. Elvers
35. HP Sauce
36. Potted shrimps
37. Stinking bishop
38. Elderflower cordial
39. Pea and ham soup
40. Aberdeen Angus Beef
41. Lemon posset
42. Guinness
43. Cumberland sausage
44. Native oysters (Well I've had native NZ oysters straight off the rocks - does that count?)
45. A ‘full English’
46. Cockles
47. Faggots
48. Eccles cake
49. Potted Cromer crab
50. Trifle
51. Stargazy Pie
52. English mustard
53. Christmas pudding
54. Cullen Skink
55. Liver and bacon with onions
56. Wood pigeon
57. Branston pickle
58. Oxtail soup
59. Picalilli
60. Sorrel
62. Chicken tikka masala
63. Deep fried Mars Bar
64. Fish, chips and mushy peas
65. Pie and mash with liquor
66. Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding (with gravy)
67. Pickled onions
68. Cock-a-leekie Soup
69. Rabbit and Hare
70. Bread sauce
71. Cauliflower cheese
72. Crumpets
73. Rice pudding
74. Bread and butter pudding
75. Bakewell tart
76. Kendall mint cake
77. Summer pudding
78. Lancashire hot pot
79. Beef Wellington
80. Eton mess
81. Neeps and tatties
82. Pimms
83. Scampi
84. Mint sauce
85. English strawberries and cream (I've had strawberries and cream...)
86. Isle of Wight Garlic
87. Mutton
88. Deep fried whitebait
89. Angels on horseback
90. Omelette Arnold Bennett
91. Devilled kidneys
92. Partridge and pheasant
93. Stew and dumplings
94. Arbroath smokies
95. Oyster loaves
96. Sloe gin
97. Damson jam
98. Soda bread
99. Quince jelly
100. Afternoon tea at the Ritz