mdstillman's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
King Cake
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Sweets

King Cake

The Carnival cake comes with a hidden baby Jesus inside.
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Pandan Leaf Extract
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Ingredients & Condiments

Pandan Leaf Extract

This plant adds a hint of vanilla and a wash of brilliant green to any dish.
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Swizzle Sticks
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Swizzle Sticks

These natural cocktail stirrers sprout from the Caribbean swizzlestick tree.
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Maca
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Maca

The Andean root once fueled Inca warriors.
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Makgeolli
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Drinks

Makgeolli

South Korea's oldest alcoholic beverage is making a comeback.
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Superman Ice Cream
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Sweets

Superman Ice Cream

It's a bird! It's a plane! It's a classic Midwestern treat!
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Egg Cream
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Drinks

Egg Cream

A fizzy, chocolate drink that harkens back to the days of Brooklyn soda fountains.
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Exploding Chocolate Teacakes
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Sweets

Exploding Chocolate Teacakes

In the 1960s, Royal Air Force pilots made a startling discovery about their sweets.
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Chapulines
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Meats & Animal Products

Chapulines

Deep-fried grasshoppers make a tangy, crispy taco filling.
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Cincinnati Chili
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Prepared Foods

Cincinnati Chili

Spiced meat sauce meets spaghetti, shredded cheese, and beans in a Midwest cult favorite.
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Poke Cake
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Sweets

Poke Cake

In the 1970s, housewives stabbed their cakes and filled the holes with Jell-O.
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White BBQ Sauce
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Ingredients & Condiments

White BBQ Sauce

In Alabama, smoked meat gets dressed up in white.
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Traditional Balsamic Vinegar
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Ingredients & Condiments

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

Most people have never tasted the real thing.
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Cajeta
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Sweets

Cajeta

In the city of Celaya, goat's milk caramel tops everything from ice cream to cereal.
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Brunost
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Meats & Animal Products

Brunost

This “brown cheese” tastes like caramel.
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Dutch Baby
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Prepared Foods

Dutch Baby

Fluffy, crispy, and large enough to share, it's no ordinary pancake.
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Mortadella
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Meats & Animal Products

Mortadella

Baloney's predecessor is sweet, delicately spiced, and bigger than your head.
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Pie Birds
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Pie Birds

To release steam, Victorian bakers placed whimsical ceramics in their pastries.
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Pineapple Bun
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Sweets

Pineapple Bun

This sweet treat is so beloved in Hong Kong, it inspired an animated movie.
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Nattō
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Prepared Foods

Nattō

These pungent fermented soybeans are coated in probiotic slime.
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Castoreum
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Ingredients & Condiments

Castoreum

Early 20th-century chefs used beaver musk to give sweets a vanilla-raspberry flavor.
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’Nduja
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Ingredients & Condiments

’Nduja

The fiery Calabrian meat spread also goes by "red Nutella" and "poor man's Viagra."
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Stinking Bishop
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Meats & Animal Products

Stinking Bishop

The story of Britain's smelliest cheese involves monks, drunks, and endangered cows.
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Irn-Bru
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Drinks

Irn-Bru

A citrusy cream soda with a hint of rust outsells Coca-Cola in Scotland.
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