Wondrous food to explore and enjoy

Gastro Obscura

Read 2012 Gastro Stories

The Day That Michigan Held a Funeral For 30,000 Pizzas

Even the governor came to pay his respects.

When Lemon-Shaped Juice Containers Set a British Legal Precedent

You know the ones.

Found: A Treasure Trove of Candy Wrappers Dating Back to the Depression

They were hidden in a circulation chamber in an old Chicago theater.

Found: Recipes From 1793 for Calves' Heads and Pigs' Feet

A Georgian cookbook was hiding in an abbey's private library.

In 1959, British Scientists Carefully Perfected the Pickled Onion

It was all for the "notoriously fickle pickle-fancying public."

February 24, 2017

Japanese Street Vendors and Their Spongy Fish Pancakes

February 23, 2017

Found: A Stray Chicken in a McDonald's Bathroom

A 5-year-old made the discovery.

February 23, 2017

I Heart New York

My quest to buy (and eat) as many different hearts as I could in a single day in the city.

February 17, 2017

Medieval Europe Couldn't Quit This Story About a Woman Eating Her Lover's Heart

Her husband tricks her into eating it.

February 14, 2017

'Poisonous Parsnips' Are Washing Up on Beaches in Scotland

Be careful out there.

February 13, 2017

Portugal's Unexpectedly Heroic Custard Tarts

The Portuguese have twice turned to the humble pastry to solve economic problems.

January 25, 2017

The Mistaken Case of the Killer Cornbread

For a brief time in the early 20th Century, cornmeal was unfairly blamed as the source of a terrible disease.

January 24, 2017

The Father and Son Who Ate Every Animal Possible

William and Francis Buckland saw Noah's Ark as a dinner menu.

January 19, 2017

The Best Kitchen Gadget of the 1600s Was a Small, Short-Legged Dog

Turnspit dogs ran in a wheel to keep the spit meat spinning.

January 11, 2017

The Meatless, Wheatless Meals of World War I America

Recipes got a lot more creative during the days of food rationing.

January 10, 2017

Found: Historic Ketchup, Buried Under a Music Venue for More Than a Century

Also, marmalade, pickle, and mustard jars.

January 10, 2017

The Long, Unusual History of the Pickled Cucumber

January 9, 2017

Blood Pancakes Are The Most Metal of All Flapjacks

Put some plasma in your breakfast.

January 6, 2017