For many years, I’ve made brie en brioche as a Thanksgiving Day nosh while we all waited for the bird to roast. I use an old recipe that makes a rich brioche, a combination of a Fanny Farmer recipe and another I got years ago from a French pastry chef who added Grand Marnier and orange zest. I let the dough retard in the refrigerator overnight and roll it out the next day, which gives it a deep, buttery flavor and super-smooth texture. The brie is always triple cream, and I fill it with macerated dried fruit, such as apricots and cherries, before wrapping it with the dough.

I always thought it was a huge hit, until one day my nephew, then 10, called my sister to ask her what the dish I made on Thanksgiving was called.

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Sea cucumber is considered a delicacy in some cultures.

“Why do you ask?” my sister inquired.

“Because I’m making a list of the worst foods in the world and it’s No. 1,” came the reply.

I guess one man’s brie en brioche is another man’s (or in this case, boy’s) really yucky dish.

I never found out what other nine churlish entries made the list, but I’ve often made a secret list of my own. I say secret because dining critics are supposed to like everything. And everything we like is supposed to be cultured and savvy. I can’t count how many times I’ve been chastised on the elevator of the AJC for harboring a Dunkin’ Donuts coffee under my coat.

“You drink that?” will come the reprimand from a colleague.

So it seems a list is in order: A list of my picks for the five worst foods in the world, open to discussion of course (share your own least-fave foods on my blog at www.ajc.com/tabletalk). Keep in mind that most of these are not what one could classify as weird foods, say — natto or durian or jellyfish (all disgusting in their own right, just a different story).

My five worst foods in the world

1. Sea cucumber: It’s the slimiest, most disgusting creature, big or small, that I have ever tasted. Yuck. This thing is the freak of the sea world.

2. Tripe: I don’t care how hip inner organs are, I can’t stand it. Makes me feel dirty all over.

3. Uni: Bleeeeeeck. The edible part of the sea urchin tastes like sulphur and feels like mushy snot.

4. Fried chicken livers: I will never get used to the flavor and mouth-feel.

5. Black licorice: Tastes like the most horrible medicine ever. Eewwww.

Reversing the thought process, there are many things I like — even adore (like that Dunkin’ Donuts coffee) — that some would feel are beneath the palate of a dining critic. Let ‘em snark. I love Twizzlers. And I love those soft pretzels you get at the food court in shopping malls (don’t care what brand they are). Marie Callender’s chicken potpies. Russell Stover chocolates (the coconut cream wows me). Sugar-free Jell-O and instant pudding. Frozen spinach.

I feel better having admitted all this. And whether it’s on your worst or best list, I love brie en brioche.