amkbrenner's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Switchel
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Drinks

Switchel

Colonial Gatorade made from vinegar and molasses is back in style.
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Chocolate Pudding Fruit
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Fruits & Vegetables

Chocolate Pudding Fruit

This fruit can also count as dessert.
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Shad Bake
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Shad Bake

Connecticut's state fish is cooked using a special “planking” technique.
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Peyote
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Peyote

Mexican and American Indians have a long history with this powerful cactus.
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Gooseneck Barnacles
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Meats & Animal Products

Gooseneck Barnacles

These expensive and dangerous-to-harvest barnacles were once confused for goose eggs.
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Watergate Cake
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Sweets

Watergate Cake

Beneath its "cover-up" of icing, this dessert hides a bunch of nuts.
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Toloache
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Toloache

The Mesoamerican plant is used as a hallucinogen, medicine, and aphrodisiac.
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Shoofly Pie
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Sweets

Shoofly Pie

Mornings in Amish country once called for pie-cake and coffee.
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Jagua
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Fruits & Vegetables

Jagua

This fruit makes tattoos, antibiotics, and dessert.
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Chicken of the Woods
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Ingredients & Condiments

Chicken of the Woods

This mushroom tastes just like chicken.
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Hala Fruit
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Fruits & Vegetables

Hala Fruit

It looks like an exploding planet and tastes like sugarcane.
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Monstera Deliciosa
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Fruits & Vegetables

Monstera Deliciosa

This fruit either burns your throat or tastes like a tropical medley.
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Cucamelon
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Fruits & Vegetables

Cucamelon

Mexico's “mouse melon” is actually a tiny cucumber.
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Olosapo
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Fruits & Vegetables

Olosapo

In Central America, custard grows on trees.
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City Chicken
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Meats & Animal Products

City Chicken

The Midwestern mock-poultry classic is fading away.
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Gooey Butter Cake
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Sweets

Gooey Butter Cake

Everything St. Louisans love about this local specialty is in the name.
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Beaver
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Meats & Animal Products

Beaver

Catholics once circumvented meatless fasts by claiming the semi-aquatic rodent was a fish.
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Fried Brain Sandwich
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Prepared Foods

Fried Brain Sandwich

Only a handful of restaurants still serve the retro Midwestern meal.
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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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Barbecued Mutton
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Prepared Foods

Barbecued Mutton

The slow-smoked sheep is a Western Kentucky specialty.
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Hackberry
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Fruits & Vegetables

Hackberry

The little-known fruit tastes like peanut M&Ms.
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Pickle Soft Serve
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Sweets

Pickle Soft Serve

The briny, refreshing ice cream acts as a cooling chaser to spicy meals.
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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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Bakeapple
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Fruits & Vegetables

Bakeapple

Almost every Newfoundlander has a secret spot for foraging this honey-sweet berry.
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