Melissa at The Traveler’s Lunchbox has created an epidemic. Food bloggers all over the world are madly scrambling to come up with their list. Their top five. The top five foods that they think everyone should try at least once before passing on to the great beyond. That’s easy you say. And then you really start to think about the question. Five foods. Just five. Five taste experiences which you hold above all others. This is truly a challenge. Lucky for me Sugar Delirium has tagged me for this, or I may have missed a chance to dig deep. While my list may not be as decadent as some, I think my list will ring true to many. So here we have my top 5 foods to eat before you die.
1. Whole lobster, steamed, plucked right out of the ocean in Rockport, Massachusetts. Served with nothing more than a bib and a puddle of sweet butter. There is truly nothing more succulent or sweet. And someday I will return.
2. True Southern Breakfast. I’m talking about biscuits with sausage gravy served up with a side of grits and eggs. There is nothing that encapsulates comfort more than true Southern cooking. And that breakfast will always remind me of the wonderful time our family had while on vacation to Florida. We love Alabama. Someday we’ll return and spend more time there.
3. Lumpia. Real Filipino lumpia prepared by a Filipino woman. Most preferably by my wonderful Aunt Lita. You’ve never had a spring roll quite like it, I promise.
4. S’mores. Freshly prepared over an open fire. Two marshmallows must be toasted together on a stick before meeting up with 3 rectangles of Hershey’s milk chocolate and two pieces of a honey graham cracker. Then you have to give the sandwich a minute to soften and meld together before greedily gobbling up the entire thing. I grew up spending a lot of time around a campfire. And nothing makes me feel nostalgic and as happy as a freshly prepared S’more.
5. Pears and Raspberries. Warm pears plucked right off the tree. They should still be slightly firm, but have started to soften so the sweet juices run down your chin as you nibble away. And the raspberries should be grown in the wild, still warm from the sunshine.
I’ll have to second that Southern breakfast. Even those of us living in the South don’t get that very often.
Well, it’s really to decadent to have very often. But when you get the opportunity… heaven on a plate.
Oh yes! The Smores!!! Definitely a “must”!!! 🙂
Lumpia. I don’t know how many people would say this is a must–they’re like a small Filipino egg roll, right? I’m sure glad I’ve tried them. Now I’m thinking I need to try them again if they rank up there with S’mores. Aggayalllahhh….
Lumpia are Filipino egg rolls. And as I try to explain them to people, it always ends up that the best thing I can compare my aunts too is a mini meatloaf in an egg roll wrapper. There are hundreds of varaiations, but they are more meat heavy than a Chinese egg roll. And they must be fried. None of this oven frying here. Must be deep fat fried in a vat of melted shortening.