Smells like lavender, tastes like lemon rind, looks like a gnarled claw fresh from your nightmares. 

This nightmarish-looking fruit has serious healing potential.

Grown in the volcanic soil around Mt. Vesuvius, these tomatoes are one of only a couple varieties used in authentic Neapolitan pizza.

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

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

This "Fluid of Beef" fed an army and makes a hearty tea.

The anus-shaped fruit tastes like cinnamon applesauce.

Boil away this plant's poisonous hairs, and you're left with a tasty, spinach-like leaf.

This mushroom tastes just like chicken.

To make the perfect matcha, start with the perfect whisk.

These pungent fermented soybeans are coated in probiotic slime.

These salted, pickled plums are an ancient Japanese hangover cure.

A pharmaceutical company developed this beverage as drinkable IV solution.

A wartime rice scarcity made this versatile pancake a Japanese staple.

This tofu alternative replaces soybeans with sesame and kudzu.

These exquisite dried persimmons are massaged for weeks.

Worlds collide in this braided bread that tastes like brioche and is meant to look like Mount Fuji.

These Japanese sweets demonstrate the ephemeral beauty of the seasons.

Leftover coffee plus gelatin equals this vintage dessert.

Many spoons are needed to demolish one of these ice cream-stuffed bread loaves.

Traditional sushi chefs produce optimal condiments with this ancient tool.

The Japanese soda still comes in a marble-stoppered bottle from the 19th century.

This pancake pays tribute to one of Japan's favorite fish.