murrayalisonb's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
Buddha's Hand
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Fruits & Vegetables

Buddha's Hand

Smells like lavender, tastes like lemon rind, looks like a gnarled claw fresh from your nightmares. 
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Molcajete
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Molcajete

The Mesoamerican mortar and pestle has been made, and used, the same way for thousands of years.
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Salsagheti
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Sweets

Salsagheti

This Mexican candy reimagines a spaghetti dinner with spicy-sour gummy noodles and tamarind sauce.
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Mangonada
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Sweets

Mangonada

Slurp this sweet and savory summer treat from a tamarind-and-chili-paste-coated straw.
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Cajeta
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Sweets

Cajeta

In the city of Celaya, goat's milk caramel tops everything from ice cream to cereal.
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3-D Jelly Cakes
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Sweets

3-D Jelly Cakes

These clear cakes house intricate scenes of fish, flowers, and more.
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Prairie Oyster Cocktail
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Drinks

Prairie Oyster Cocktail

The hangover cure gets its oyster-like texture from a raw egg.
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Butter Molds
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Butter Molds

These intricate stamps are relics from a time when dairy farmers beautifully branded their products.
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Fried Chicken Gizzards
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Prepared Foods

Fried Chicken Gizzards

These muscular organs are a crispy, chewy Southern favorite.
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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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Beer Can Chicken
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Prepared Foods

Beer Can Chicken

This bird comes with a brew inside.
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Red-Eye Gravy
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Ingredients & Condiments

Red-Eye Gravy

Once described as a “divine elixir,” this Southern sauce typically gets its spunk from coffee.
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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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Szechuan Button
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Ingredients & Condiments

Szechuan Button

This herb gives cocktails another kind of buzz.
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Coca-Cola and Peanuts
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Drinks

Coca-Cola and Peanuts

This traditional Southern pairing captures sweet and salty in a single bottle.
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Bean Pie
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Sweets

Bean Pie

This slightly sweet dessert is a staple in some Black American Muslim communities.
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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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Scrapple
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Prepared Foods

Scrapple

Pennsylvania's pork loaf embodies Amish resourcefulness.
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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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Shoofly Pie
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Sweets

Shoofly Pie

Mornings in Amish country once called for pie-cake and coffee.
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Ramos Gin Fizz
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Drinks

Ramos Gin Fizz

Turning this cocktail into a fluffy cloud is easy—just hire someone to shake it for 12 minutes straight. 
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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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Texas Kolaches
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Sweets

Texas Kolaches

This tasty Czech pastry is now a Texan tradition.
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Jezebel Sauce
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Ingredients & Condiments

Jezebel Sauce

Cooks in the Southern United States still whip up this spicy, seductively sweet condiment from the 1950s.
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