Kate Donovan's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Sugar Toad
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Prepared Foods

Sugar Toad

Chefs carefully detoxify this East Coast pufferfish to create sweet, fried “chicken wings of the sea.”
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Yaupon Tea
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Drinks

Yaupon Tea

The mellow-buzz brew that once fueled Native Americans is making a comeback.
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Pimientos de Padrón
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Fruits & Vegetables

Pimientos de Padrón

Eating these unpredictable tapas is a game of spicy-pepper roulette.
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Raindrop Cake
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Sweets

Raindrop Cake

The beautiful dessert evaporates in 20 minutes.
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Blaa Bread
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Prepared Foods

Blaa Bread

This adaption of French refugee bread is now a protected Irish specialty.
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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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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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Lobster Mushroom
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Ingredients & Condiments

Lobster Mushroom

This mushroom isn't a mushroom at all.
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The Persian
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Sweets

The Persian

A Thunder Bay bakery misnamed this berry-frosted cinnamon bun after General John Pershing.
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Xuixo
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Sweets

Xuixo

The original Cronut was named after a legendary acrobat's sneeze.
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Ingberlach
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Sweets

Ingberlach

Grandmas fashion this near-forgotten Passover treat from ginger and honey.
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Liederkranz Cheese
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Meats & Animal Products

Liederkranz Cheese

This long-extinct pungent delight has made a comeback in Wisconsin.
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Atomic Cake
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Sweets

Atomic Cake

This Chicago specialty stacks three cakes into one monster dessert.
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Pouding Chômeur
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Sweets

Pouding Chômeur

During the Great Depression, Canadian women made “unemployed-person pudding.”
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Pet de Soeur
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Sweets

Pet de Soeur

French Canadians find “nun’s farts” addictively delicious.
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Reindeer Dog
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Prepared Foods

Reindeer Dog

Made with reindeer meat and topped with Coca-Cola-glazed onions, this snack once drew lines down the block in Anchorage.
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Saskatoons
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Fruits & Vegetables

Saskatoons

Nutty and sweet, these juicy gems were once a valued trade commodity in the northern United States.
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Pacific Razor Clams
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Meats & Animal Products

Pacific Razor Clams

It takes patience and skill to harvest these delicious bivalves.
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Chateau Jiahu
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Drinks

Chateau Jiahu

This modern adaptation of a 9,000-year-old brew combines elements of beer, wine, and mead.
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Yūbari King Melon
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Fruits & Vegetables

Yūbari King Melon

The most expensive melon in the world is a status symbol in Japan.
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Gunpowder Rum
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Drinks

Gunpowder Rum

A spirit that toasts a time when proofing your liquor meant setting it aflame.
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Breadfruit Salad
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Prepared Foods

Breadfruit Salad

This tropical fruit once sparked a famous mutiny and now serves as a starch alternative in potato salad.
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Peach Sliders
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Sweets

Peach Sliders

This sweet sandwich celebrates Georgia's favorite crop.
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Watergate Salad
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Sweets

Watergate Salad

This salad named after a scandal has been traced back to Kraft and Helen Keller.
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