Spitfire's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Beaujolais Nouveau
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Drinks

Beaujolais Nouveau

When the clock strikes midnight on the third Thursday of November, fans gather to celebrate the release of this fresh, fruity wine.
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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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Absinthe Spoon
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Absinthe Spoon

This flat, silver spoon holds an exalted place in the mystery and ritual of absinthe drinking.
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Rivesaltes
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Drinks

Rivesaltes

This French fortified wine is left outside for a year, aging amid rain and swinging temperatures.
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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.”
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Ambergris
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Ingredients & Condiments

Ambergris

Whale excrement once flavored ice cream.
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Éclade de Moules
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Prepared Foods

Éclade de Moules

These marvelous mussels are cooked under pine needles.
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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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Anis de Flavigny
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Sweets

Anis de Flavigny

Once made by monks, this candy spends 15 days rolling in sugar syrup to get its pearly-white shell.
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Chouchen
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Drinks

Chouchen

Ancient Celtic settlers brought this honey-based drink to Brittany.
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Cancoillotte
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Prepared Foods

Cancoillotte

This decadent cheese has frugal roots.
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Green Chartreuse
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Drinks

Green Chartreuse

Only two silent monks know all 130 plants that go into this herbal liqueur.
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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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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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Roudoudous
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Sweets

Roudoudous

These French candies originally came in seashells.
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Croquembouche
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Sweets

Croquembouche

This French wedding cake is a caramel-wrapped tower of pastry balls.
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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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Poire Williams
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Drinks

Poire Williams

Before they're filled with brandy, these bottles get attached to trees so pears can grow inside.
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Aligot
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Prepared Foods

Aligot

These extra-cheesy potatoes resemble decadent fondue.
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Shrimp Fishing on Horseback
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Shrimp Fishing on Horseback

This dying practice requires total trust between horse and rider.
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Grisette
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Drinks

Grisette

Make like a 19th-century Belgian miner and cool off with this refreshing ale.
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Antwerp Chocolate Hands
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Sweets

Antwerp Chocolate Hands

These sweet hands come with stories of triumph and brutality.
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Carbonnade à la Flamande
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Prepared Foods

Carbonnade à la Flamande

Belgium's stew of beef and abbey-style ale is essentially bourguignon for beer lovers.
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Cougnou
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Sweets

Cougnou

This Christmas bread is formed in the shape of the baby Jesus.
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