nicolescottdurham's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Blue-Green Algae
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Ingredients & Condiments

Blue-Green Algae

The Aztecs used it to make protein-rich tortillas; we use it to make unicorn lattes.
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Thrills Gum
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Sweets

Thrills Gum

Everyone says this vintage chewing gum tastes like soap, including the company.
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Loggerhead
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Loggerhead

In the Colonial era, a red-hot iron rod warmed drinks, ignited cannons, and cauterized wounds.
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King Cake
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Sweets

King Cake

The Carnival cake comes with a hidden baby Jesus inside.
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Snow Cream
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Sweets

Snow Cream

Ice cream made with fresh snow is a beloved Southern tradition.
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The Great Fruitcake Toss
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Food Festivals

The Great Fruitcake Toss

Why throw old cakes away when you can launch them by hand, slingshot, or cannon?
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Texas Sheet Cake
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Sweets

Texas Sheet Cake

Funerals in the Lone Star State call for this comforting chocolate treat.
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Small Foods Party
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Food Festivals

Small Foods Party

The competition that shrinks shrimp cocktail to the size of your pinky and fits bento into a matchbox.
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Chocolate-Covered Cinnamon Bears
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Sweets

Chocolate-Covered Cinnamon Bears

The gummies are taking over Utah.
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Poke Cake
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Sweets

Poke Cake

In the 1970s, housewives stabbed their cakes and filled the holes with Jell-O.
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Sugar Cream Pie
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Sweets

Sugar Cream Pie

Indiana's unofficial state pie was once a desperate measure.
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Castoreum
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Ingredients & Condiments

Castoreum

Early 20th-century chefs used beaver musk to give sweets a vanilla-raspberry flavor.
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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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Peanut Pie
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Sweets

Peanut Pie

The Virginia treat can “make even your deepest-dyed Yankee start complimenting you with a southern accent.”
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St. Paul Sandwich
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Prepared Foods

St. Paul Sandwich

Don't think too hard about the name.
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Sugarloaf Pineapple
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Fruits & Vegetables

Sugarloaf Pineapple

Devour this rare variety without fear of post-pineapple mouth irritation.
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Pouding ChĂ´meur
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Sweets

Pouding ChĂ´meur

During the Great Depression, Canadian women made “unemployed-person pudding.”
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Boiled Green Peanuts
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Prepared Foods

Boiled Green Peanuts

Roadside vendors in the Deep South soften fresh goobers with bubbling brine.
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Nutcracker
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Drinks

Nutcracker

This cocktail is a New York City summertime staple, albeit an illegal one.
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Café Brûlot
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Drinks

Café Brûlot

The New Orleans cocktail is part pick-me-up, part pyrotechnics show.
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Benne Wafers
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Sweets

Benne Wafers

A crispy cookie from South Carolina, first introduced during the slave trade.
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Rock N' Rye Pop
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Drinks

Rock N' Rye Pop

A Prohibition-era flavor from a soda company beloved by Detroiters and Juggalos.
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Root Beer Plant
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Ingredients & Condiments

Root Beer Plant

These sacred leaves taste like peppery soda.
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Blue Moon Ice Cream
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Sweets

Blue Moon Ice Cream

This cosmic-colored flavor is a Midwestern mystery.
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