cesarf04's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Stigghiola
Gastro Obscura
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Prepared Foods

Stigghiola

The streets of Palermo are filled with the smell of succulent, sizzling lamb intestines.
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Garum
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Ingredients & Condiments

Garum

In ancient Rome, this fermented fish sauce sparked a booming industry.
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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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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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Andarinos di Usini
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Prepared Foods

Andarinos di Usini

Made only in one Sardinian village, these sun-dried pasta spirals are crafted twist by painstaking twist.
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Lampredotto
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Prepared Foods

Lampredotto

The secret to this sandwich is the cow’s fourth stomach.
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Piacentino Ennese
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Meats & Animal Products

Piacentino Ennese

This Sicilian sheep's milk cheese is colored with saffron and studded with black peppercorns.
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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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Struffoli
Gastro Obscura
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Sweets

Struffoli

These Neapolitan Christmas sweets double as decorations.
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Lorighittas
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Prepared Foods

Lorighittas

Making a pound of this pretty pasta can take an entire day.
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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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Cassata Siciliana
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Sweets

Cassata Siciliana

The seductively delicious Easter cake once made an entire convent neglect its prayers.
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Pizza Fritta
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Prepared Foods

Pizza Fritta

Folding and deep-frying pies is a beloved Neapolitan tradition.
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Drunken Cheese
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Meats & Animal Products

Drunken Cheese

The aging process of this formaggio begins in a barrel of wine.
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Graffe
Gastro Obscura
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Sweets

Graffe

During Carnival, Neapolitans fill up on these fluffy potato doughnuts.
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Capezzoli di Venere
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Sweets

Capezzoli di Venere

A decadent dessert whose Italian name translates to “nipples of Venus.”
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Pizza Ebraica
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Sweets

Pizza Ebraica

This cookie is found only in Rome's Jewish quarter.
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Carciofi alla Giudia
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Prepared Foods

Carciofi alla Giudia

Created in Rome's Jewish ghetto, the fried artichokes herald spring.
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Brioche con Gelato
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Sweets

Brioche con Gelato

Some Sicilians start their day with this decadent combination.
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Pizza Montanara
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Prepared Foods

Pizza Montanara

Its deep-fried crust is part of a longstanding Neapolitan tradition.
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Saint Agatha's Breasts
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Sweets

Saint Agatha's Breasts

This ricotta and marzipan pastry honors the Sicilian saint's most noteworthy body part.
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Threads of God
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Prepared Foods

Threads of God

To eat the world's rarest pasta, you must first complete a 20-mile pilgrimage.
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Sfogliatella
Gastro Obscura
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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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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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