Static Zombie

50 Best Foods

Fifty best In my world, anyway. In an essay about blood sausage, Vogue food writer Jeffery Steingarten mentioned that his first taste of the boudin noir bumped frozen Milky Way bars off his list of the hundred best foods in the world. Which got me to thinking. I've never tried blood sausage, and my culinary horizons are considerably less far-flung than Mr. Steingarten's. But lists are like farts-- anyone can make them and they compel comment. 100 foods seemed rather excessive to me, so I cut it in half to 50.

My list represents only my own experience. I tried to stay within the realm of "foods" as opposed to "dishes" or "preparations", but on occasion I could not help myself. When generic foods are listed, take it as a given that "good" is the implied prefix. The same soup made in one kitchen might be repulsive, but in another sublime. I'm assuming the latter.

To preserve my own sanity, I decided to categorize items rather than attempt to sort them in some kind of numerical priority order, and to post the list in segments by category. And of course, I reserve the right to modify the list as omissions occur to me.