Gana Pagu's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Absinthe Spoon
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Absinthe Spoon

This flat, silver spoon holds an exalted place in the mystery and ritual of absinthe drinking.
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Kokoretsi
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Prepared Foods

Kokoretsi

On Easter in Greece, whole lambs roast beside succulent skewers of their offal.
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Gooseneck Barnacles
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Meats & Animal Products

Gooseneck Barnacles

These expensive and dangerous-to-harvest barnacles were once confused for goose eggs.
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Sarde in Saor
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Prepared Foods

Sarde in Saor

Venetians celebrate the end of a 16th-century plague with sweet and sour sardines.
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Alkermes
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Ingredients & Condiments

Alkermes

Once an insect-dyed health tonic, this liqueur now adds a scarlet tint to Italian pastries.
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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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Chestnut Beer
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Drinks

Chestnut Beer

The ultimate in nutty brews.
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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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Strawberry Tree Fruit
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Fruits & Vegetables

Strawberry Tree Fruit

The lychee-looking fruit appears in everything from jam and liqueur to the Aeneid and Madrid's flag.
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Frutta Martorana
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Sweets

Frutta Martorana

Sicilian nuns once hung these sugary "fruits" from tree branches.
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Carta di Musica
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Prepared Foods

Carta di Musica

Bread so thin, you can read music through the dough.
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Cynar
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Drinks

Cynar

Artichokes form the backbone of this vegetal liqueur.
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Licorice Root
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Fruits & Vegetables

Licorice Root

The washed and dried root of the licorice plant was once a popular natural “candy.”
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Marzipan Easter Lamb
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Sweets

Marzipan Easter Lamb

This sweet symbolic figurine is a Sicilian holiday tradition.
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Sfogliatella
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Sweets

Sfogliatella

This layered pastry from Italy's Amalfi Coast may have origins in a 17th-century convent.
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Struffoli
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Sweets

Struffoli

These Neapolitan Christmas sweets double as decorations.
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Spaghetti alla Puttanesca
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Prepared Foods

Spaghetti alla Puttanesca

Historians debate whether this dish actually originated with Italian sex workers.
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Julmust
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Drinks

Julmust

This Swedish holiday soda outsells Coca-Cola during the Christmas season.
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Lussekatter
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Sweets

Lussekatter

These saffron buns are eaten on Lucia Day in Sweden.
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Francesinha
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Prepared Foods

Francesinha

A sandwich so decadent, it was once inappropriate for women to order one.
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