flblom's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Shrub
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Drinks

Shrub

Before refrigeration, mixing fruit with sugar and vinegar extended its shelf life and made for a tasty drink.
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Black Garlic
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Ingredients & Condiments

Black Garlic

These inky cloves have aged like a fine wine.
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Bonito Flakes
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Meats & Animal Products

Bonito Flakes

Some fish can dance.
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Umeboshi
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Fruits & Vegetables

Umeboshi

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

Takoyaki

Osaka's most famous dish is an octopus-stuffed fried dough ball.
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Chimay Beer Cheese
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Meats & Animal Products

Chimay Beer Cheese

Beer-brewing monks make aromatic, ale-flavored cheese in the Belgian countryside.
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Yule Log Cake
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Sweets

Yule Log Cake

These holiday cakes link Christmas to the Norse god of lightning.
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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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Tanjia
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Prepared Foods

Tanjia

This meat dish slow-cooks in the embers that heat Moroccan bathhouses.
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Ham Salad
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Prepared Foods

Ham Salad

This retro sandwich filling was once a convenient, comforting funeral food.
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Chitlins
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Prepared Foods

Chitlins

These entrails identified safe venues for Black musicians during the Jim Crow era.
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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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Crystal Beach Sugar Waffles
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Sweets

Crystal Beach Sugar Waffles

These deep-fried dough daisies outlived the Fort Erie amusement park in which they were born.
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Red Snappers
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Prepared Foods

Red Snappers

The reddest of the red meat.
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Clambake
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Clambake

An ancient cooking method still produces delicious, beachside feasts.
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Maine Wild Blueberries
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Fruits & Vegetables

Maine Wild Blueberries

The sweet, tiny wild berries are only available for two months each year.
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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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Birch Beer
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Drinks

Birch Beer

This cousin of root beer has a long history and a surprisingly minty taste.
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The Zombie
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Drinks

The Zombie

Donn Beach only wrote the recipe for his famously potent cocktail in secret code.
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Pickleback
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Drinks

Pickleback

A bar sharing a basement with a pickle place led to an unusual drink.
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Nathan’s Famous French Fry Fork
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Nathan’s Famous French Fry Fork

The hot dog chain’s charming “bi-dent” picks up potatoes with ease.
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Halo-Halo
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Sweets

Halo-Halo

A sundae with a surprising mix of flavors that reflect Filipino history.
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Bitter Melon
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Fruits & Vegetables

Bitter Melon

This nightmarish-looking fruit has serious healing potential.
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Castagne del Prete
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Sweets

Castagne del Prete

To do Christmas right, Italians turn to heavenly chestnuts.
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