30 Foodie Things you Should do before you die! Or get too old!
The first day of spring can only mean good things in the life of a foodie. Spring lamb, fresh asparagus, new season stone fruit – happy days! We’re in Australia matie!
This year, September 1st also heralds the first day of an intriguing charity project called 30 Days Has September. The idea is simple – every day for the next month you have to try something new. Easy, right?
We love this idea and so we put our heads together to make the ‘ultimate’ list of 30 foodie experiences the VictorsFood team think everyone should try at least once in their lifetime. Without any further ado, here’s what we think you should try:
Try durian
This pungent smelling (aka stinky) fruit is a delicacy in South East Asia. Some people go crazy for it; some people won’t leave the house during durian season. One thing is for certain … there is nothing quite like it!
Drink Champagne in Champagne
Sparkling wine is perfectly fine but Champagne is golden. Pop the cork with some crusty old Frenchies and feel the home terroir under your pieds.
Go to the Tokyo Fish Markets and eat sashimi cut straight from the fish
Some things are worth getting up early for and Tokyo fish market is one of them. Ask one of the fish mongers to hack you off a chunk of tuna, dunk it in soy and feel it swim down the hatch!
Eat gumbo in New Orleans
Laissez les bons temps rouler when you gobble down a spicy bowl of creole gumbo in the swampy south. Extra points if you can find a voodoo queen to share a table with.
Eat a witchetty grub in central Australia
Tastes like chicken.
Go truffle hunting
Find some oak trees and grab a pig or a beagle – oil isn’t the only black gold worth digging out of the ground.
Learn how to fly fish for trout and salmon
This is akin to learning the zen art of patience. Slip on some sexy waders and get wet while you flail around in a fairly amusing fashion (for onlookers, anyway). Those wily salmon will be your dinner. Just you wait fishy.
Attend a slow food event
Slow can be very good. Just ask the tortoise.
Grow your own fruit, veggies and herbs
There is nothing more satisfying that being able to harvest your own crop (except maybe showing off to your neighbours – ‘look at my tomatoes, suckers!’)
Visit an abbatoir
This will give you a great deal of respect for where meat comes from, why you should consider how animals are raised and slaughtered and why the nose-to-tail philosophy is worth embracing.
Drink caipirinhas in Brazil
Par-tay!
Learn how to make stock
Shop bought is a poor cousin to the stock you can make at home for a pittance. A life skill for any self-respecting cook.
Learn how to boil, poach and fry an egg perfectly
You will never go hungry if you know how to cook an egg (plus, it’s so simple that you can do it at 3am when you’re a bit tipsy).
Bake scones
Make friends. Influence people. Bake scones.
Eat at The Fat Duck
Heston Blumenthal is a culinary god. Visit his church.
Visit an olive grove and taste freshly pressed oil
There is nothing quite so delicious as freshly pressed olive oil.
Visit the spice markets in Morocco
The photo opp of a lifetime. How do they get those spices into such neat piles?
Visit a morning market in Thailand
Take a peg for your nose and plunge yourself into the chaos of the living and the dead. Live eels, turtles, crabs, tubs of spice paste, fresh vegetables, floral garlands … an abundance of life will fill your senses.
Drink margaritas on a beach in Mexico
Just for fun. Do it at sunset. Do it at sunrise. It doesn’t matter ‘cause you’re in MEHICO!
Try ceviche in Peru
Llama and guinea pig = no. Raw fish salad = yes.
Unleash your inner carnivore and chew on some South African biltong
Saffas love nothing more than this dried spicy beef snack.
Taste breast milk
Go on. We know you’re curious.
Milk a cow or goat
It’s not as easy as you think!
Eat caviar
Find out what all the fuss is about and channel a little Anna Karenina.
Go to an espresso bar in Roma
The best way to get totally wired and perve on hot Italians.
Go to Oktoberfest in Germany
The best way to get totally smashed and perve on hot Germans. Hello lederhosen!
Eat fish and chips on the beach
A simple, unadulterated pleasure for all ages.
Raise laying hens in your backyard
Discover the joy of collecting warm eggs in the morning.
Get tested for food allergies or intolerances
Boring schmoring and yet this will lead to a much happier life. Knowledge is power.
Have a nutritionist design a diet for you
Sometimes it’s good to have rules just so you can break them.
To get involved in the 30 Days Has September project, please visit www.30dayshasseptember.com
