erikhodgins's User Profile - Atlas Obscura
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Sponge Candy
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Sweets

Sponge Candy

This chocolate-coated confection's crisp, bubbly structure is well-suited to the even crisper Buffalo air.
Sponsored by Visit Buffalo Niagara
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Pocari Sweat
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Drinks

Pocari Sweat

A pharmaceutical company developed this beverage as drinkable IV solution.
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Unicum
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Drinks

Unicum

A bitter liqueur that traces the history of a Hungarian-Jewish family.
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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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Kofola
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Drinks

Kofola

The sweet-and-sour soda almost disappeared with the collapse of communist rule in then-Czechoslovakia.
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Julmust
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Drinks

Julmust

This Swedish holiday soda outsells Coca-Cola during the Christmas season.
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Coffee Crisp
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Sweets

Coffee Crisp

This candy rarely ventures beyond Canada's borders.
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Rauchbier
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Drinks

Rauchbier

Only a few breweries still make smoky beer in this classic German style.
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Chocolate Letters
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Sweets

Chocolate Letters

In this Dutch holiday tradition, Sinterklaas leaves good children sweet pieces of the alphabet inside their shoes.
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Castoreum
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Ingredients & Condiments

Castoreum

Early 20th-century chefs used beaver musk to give sweets a vanilla-raspberry flavor.
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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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Dragon's Beard Candy
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Sweets

Dragon's Beard Candy

The ancient confection consists of wispy sugar-strands that look like dragon whiskers.
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Mauby
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Drinks

Mauby

Caribbean tree bark gives this drink its bittersweet flavor.
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Salo
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Meats & Animal Products

Salo

Usually, the only heat that gets close to this raw pork fat is a sprinkle of pepper.
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Peameal Bacon
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Meats & Animal Products

Peameal Bacon

The real "Canadian bacon" comes rolled in cornmeal.
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Kopstootje
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Kopstootje

The Dutch drinking ritual begins with a glass of genever and ends with a “little head-butt.”
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Oliebollen
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Sweets

Oliebollen

These Dutch doughnuts are classic New Year's treats.
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Spruce Beer
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Spruce Beer

This Christmas tree elixir kept Vikings and Captain Cook alive.
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Beaver Tails
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Sweets

Beaver Tails

No rodents were harmed in the making of this fried Canadian treat.
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Kamatahvel
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Sweets

Kamatahvel

Created during a cocoa shortage, the grain-based “chocolate” bar became an Estonian classic.
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Boston Baked Beans
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Sweets

Boston Baked Beans

In the 1920s, confectioners thought the public wanted candy that looked like legumes—and they were right.
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Nanaimo Bar
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Sweets

Nanaimo Bar

From postwar dessert to sweet slice of Canadian identity.
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Rock N' Rye Pop
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Drinks

Rock N' Rye Pop

A Prohibition-era flavor from a soda company beloved by Detroiters and Juggalos.
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Ramune
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Drinks

Ramune

The Japanese soda still comes in a marble-stoppered bottle from the 19th century.
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