PencilHB's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Faloodeh
Gastro Obscura
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Sweets

Faloodeh

This crunchy, sweet, and tart noodle sorbet is one of the world's oldest frozen desserts.
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Charentais Melon
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Fruits & Vegetables

Charentais Melon

The melon has its own sculpture, festival, and order of knights.
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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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Kaymak
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Ingredients & Condiments

Kaymak

Somewhere between butter and cream cheese, kaymak adds a fatty, creamy richness to everything.
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Siwa Oasis Dates
Gastro Obscura
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Fruits & Vegetables

Siwa Oasis Dates

Dates from this desert oasis have been sweetening Egyptian tables since pharaonic times.
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Chouchen
Gastro Obscura
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Drinks

Chouchen

Ancient Celtic settlers brought this honey-based drink to Brittany.
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San Marzano Tomatoes
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Fruits & Vegetables

San Marzano Tomatoes

Grown in the volcanic soil around Mt. Vesuvius, these tomatoes are one of only a couple varieties used in authentic Neapolitan pizza.
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Cherimoya
Gastro Obscura
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Fruits & Vegetables

Cherimoya

Growing this sweet, tropical fruit sometimes requires careful hand-pollination with a paint brush.
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Irn-Bru
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Drinks

Irn-Bru

A citrusy cream soda with a hint of rust outsells Coca-Cola in Scotland.
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Rillettes
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Prepared Foods

Rillettes

Spread this fat-poached meat on a crusty French loaf.
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Kouign-Amann
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Sweets

Kouign-Amann

Some Bretons claim that their signature treat is the fattiest pastry in the world.
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Kibbeh Nayyeh
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Meats & Animal Products

Kibbeh Nayyeh

This raw meat meze from Lebanon is as fresh as it gets.
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Ketchup Chips
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Prepared Foods

Ketchup Chips

This Canadian favorite is relatively unknown elsewhere.
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Sugar on Snow
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Sweets

Sugar on Snow

Where maple sap flows, all one needs to make taffy is snow.
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Financiers
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Sweets

Financiers

These almond cakes resembling gold ingots were sold near the Paris stock exchange.
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Mechoui
Gastro Obscura
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Prepared Foods

Mechoui

In this Moroccan street specialty, whole-roasted lamb is cooked in underground clay pits and sold by weight.
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Glögg
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Drinks

Glögg

The aroma of this mulled wine has been compared to “a warmed-up bowl of Froot Loops.”
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Żubrówka
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Drinks

Żubrówka

The same grass that feeds massive European bison adds notes of vanilla and lavender to this unique Polish vodka.
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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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Floating Island
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Sweets

Floating Island

The 17th-century dessert plants an isle of meringue in a sea of custard.
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Bene’n’hot
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Drinks

Bene’n’hot

Thanks to World War I veterans, a French liqueur has become the toast of a Lancashire town.
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Sfogliatella
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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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Struffoli
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Sweets

Struffoli

These Neapolitan Christmas sweets double as decorations.
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Licorice Root
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Fruits & Vegetables

Licorice Root

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