I’m going to give the lame kind of answer that my mum used to give when we’d ask her which of us was her favorite: I can’t pick one favorite.

The other cop-out answer is that within any category of food, there are things that I just won’t eat. I am not someone who thinks any ice cream is better than no ice cream. There are ice creams not worth eating. And pizzas. And breads. And fruits. Etc.

All hedging aside, I love good seafood (and I’m including sushi). I remember as a kid going out on a boat in Cape Cod and slurping down oysters as we pulled them out of the ocean. Good northeast oysters taste like the ocean to me in the best way possible, and I have never eaten so many oysters that I thought I couldn’t have more oysters. Ah, and good fresh bluefish is a revelation, same with uni. Lobster, scallops, mussels, black cod, sardines, I love them. When I was in DC, I remember going to a fish market and being overcome with sadness about the lobster situation (Not even a whole lobster, just lobster tails! for an obscene price!).

I also love sweets, particularly ice cream. Pie is iffy because I love good pie with all my heart, but there are a lot of bad pies out there— too sweet, gloppy and syrupy, tough crusts, it can be ugly. Good macarons fall into the category of oysters for me— I have never eaten so many that I would not have had more.

I really, truly love many fruits and vegetables. Brussels sprouts, pomegranate seeds, seckel pears, raspberries, blackberries, fresh tomatoes, a good grapefruit, fresh peas. Chinese takeout green beans!

Then there are so many spectacular cheeses out there. Ah. Cheese. Why are you so wonderful?