Eat to live, ready to die?

BBC published their “50 foods to eat before you die.”

I have to say I was astounded by the broad sweeping picks…why not make people work a bit before they settle down to die?? #23 Chocolate. That’s it?? Hersheys and Caffarel are the same? White chocolate is the same as luscious gianduia? #24 Sandwiches. Argh!

#15 Pasta. (All 58 million Italians send up a cry of rage) There are hundreds and hundreds of pasta recipes – I mean, there’s several books with 500 recipes each (greatest ever, cook’s guide, almost fat-free) How can you lump in America’s spaghetti and meatballs in Prego sauce with pappardelle con pecorino di fossa?

I’m only missing about 5 from the list (close to death, y’all!) but don’t intend to eat kangaroo or reindeer or guinea pig in the near future, so I’ll live for quite some time.

I consider myself pretty well-traveled, and definitely well-fed, so I thought I would make my own list. Instead of being so general (Mexican food???) I thought that I would focus on specific dishes…those ingredients in their BEST preparation.

What things are missing from the BBC list, in your opinion? What’s something you discovered late in life that you now can’t live without? How close are you to “dying?”

My list, in no particular order…

1. Cracked whole dungeness crab
2. Grilled shrimp enchiladas with jalapeno cream sauce
3. Panzanella salad
4. Tom Yum Gai soup
5. Beef & Broccoli with noodles
6. Fresh homemade basil and pinenut pesto
7. Lindor truffle (the red one)
8. Sausage (I’ll make it easy on you….Polish, Summer, Chorizo, Jalapeno, Beer, Pesto, chicken, beef, pork, whatever!!)
9. Olive pate
10. Pane e pomodoro – fresh tomatoes smeared on Pugliese bread with Pugliese olive oil & oregano
11. Vegetarian Samosa
12. Chicken Khorma or Tikka Masala
13. Chocolate mousse
14. Fresh potato gnocchi with meat sauce
15. Mango
16. Pineapple
17. Portuguese breakfast (eggs, rice, and sausage with soy sauce)
18. Tiramisu
19. French crepe (preferrably with Nutella)
20. Nutella (see above)
21. Honey or Spicy Mustard
22. Cinnamon hot chocolate
23. Fresh buffalo mozzarella
24. Kebab (with hot sauce!)
25. Pistachio gelato
26. Mint chocolate chip ice cream
27. Pot stickers
28. Brownies
29. Beef stroganoff
30. Macaroni and cheese with salsa
31. Chicken fried steak
32. Hot buttermilk biscuits and sausage cream gravy
33. Queso (Tex-Mex dip)
34. Hawaiian-stlye pizza (with ranch dressing)
35. Argentinian Churrasco steak
36. Pho
37. Fried calamari (especially the legs)
38. Hot edamame with salt
39. Smoked salmon
40. Shredded beef tamales
41. Roti prata with curry dipping sauce
42. Grilled cheese sandwich
43. Arancina with meat sauce
44. Vietnamese spring rolls with peanut sauce
45. American or British breakfast
46. Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl
47. Bread: Pizza bianca, garlic naan, garlic bread, hot baguette
48. Yellow Thai curry
49. Spicy tuna rolls
50. Sticky toffee pudding