Clik here to view.
Maultaschen
The origins of Germany’s Maultaschen are deliciously devious. Legend has it that, in the late Middle Ages, a lay brother named Jakob invented the stuffed pasta dumplings at the Maulbronn Monastery, a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Tiquira
Indigenous Brazilians have fermented alcoholic beverages from the cassava root for thousands of years. These beer-like beverages go by names like cauim, caxiri, and tarubá. Fermentation is an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nectar Soda
Though Cincinnati is best known for breweries, another effervescent beverage has a long history in the Queen City: the nectar soda. Home to the oldest pharmacy college in the U.S. west of the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Are There Plenty of Fish in the Sea? Ask an Elephant Seal.
This story was originally published in bioGraphic and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. The deep sea contains many things: shipwrecks laden with gold, submersibles stuffed with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Midcentury America's Most Scandalous Salad
This article is adapted from the February 22, 2025, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. In 2014, around Thanksgiving, talk-show host Ellen Degeneres showed...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Steel Mill That Built America
On a cool October morning in 2006, I was circling the property of the abandoned Bethlehem Steel mill. Located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, it had been the flagship production plant of a company that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Meet the Feminist Resistance Fighter Who Created the Modern Kitchen
On May 1, 1942, a small group of communists enjoyed a clandestine celebration in central Vienna. It didn't matter that they were imprisoned by the Gestapo and each in solitary confinement; they had...
View ArticleClik here to view.
How Cold War Spying From Space Connected the Galaxy to Utah
Harold Mitchell watched from the cockpit of his plane as a spacecraft fell from the sky. Four thousand feet above him, the spacecraft glinted in the sun as it dangled from a parachute. Mitchell called...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sex Work Throughout History: Our Favorite Reads
Often considered one of the oldest professions—dating back to at least 2400 BC in Mesopotamia—sex work has taken many forms throughout history. Ancient Rome held festivals revolving around sex work,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Florida’s Iconic Corals Aren’t Having Babies Anymore
This story was originally published in Vox and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. Once a year, typically after sunset in the late summer, the coral baby-making process begins....
View ArticleClik here to view.
In Defense of Turkish Delight
This article is adapted from the March 1, 2025, edition of Gastro Obscura’s Favorite Things newsletter. You can sign up here. A few years ago, I was standing in the gift shop at Mount Vernon when I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mimes Directing Traffic in Bogotá Had Surprisingly Loud Impacts
When the clock strikes 5 p.m. in Bogotá, a horde of cars finds itself stuck in an all-too-familiar congestion nightmare. A motorbike weaves in and out of lanes, trucks incessantly honk, and what seems...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Devilish New Species Discovered in Big Bend National Park
In March 2024, Deb Manley, a volunteer in Big Bend National Park, Texas, uploaded photos of a small, low-lying plant covered in silvery fuzz to the species identification app iNaturalist. The app...
View ArticleClik here to view.
These 2,000-Year-Old Mounds Trace the Path of the Moon
Just outside of Ohio’s capital, a wall of earth rises five feet from the smooth ground in a perfect circle, 1,000 feet wide. Standing inside that ring of mounded terra firma today, you can see the Moon...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Time Tardis in Ormskirk, England
This iconic red K6 phone box from the 1930s is no longer in operation. Instead of picking up a phone, visitors can step into an art installation celebrating the history of Ormskirk, West Lancashire. A...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Lületaşı Müzesi (Meerschaum Museum) in Odunpazarı, Turkey
The Lületaşı museum is tucked within a 16th century mosque complex on the edge of the touristy Odunpazarı old town, occupying a narrow L-shaped corridor in a corner building. It's a showcase for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Azim Azimzadeh Park in Baku, Azerbaijan
Born in 1880, Azim Azimzade was a self-taught artist who started to caricaturize social and political issues of the time in 1906, heralding the dawn of Azerbaijani satirical graphic art. In addition...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Catford Cat in London, England
Sporting a Cheshire Cat-worthy grin, this giant fiberglass feline has crouched over the Catford Centre in London since 1974. With a playful paw resting on the "F" of "Catford," the statue has become...
View ArticleClik here to view.
'Havsprinsen' ('The Sea Prince') in Malmö, Sweden
By the shore in Malmö, Sweden, Havsprinsen (The Sea Prince) sits on a rock, gazing across the Öresund Strait. The crowned bronze figure, with a dorsal fin and flipper-like feet, faces Copenhagen,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
What Makes Heritage Livestock So Important? AO Wants to Know.
AO Wants to Know is an ongoing interview series where we ask experts in extraordinary subjects to share their knowledge with us. When I first meet Jeannette Beranger over Zoom, she’s getting ready to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Calshot Lightship in Southampton, England
This bright red ship used to mark the entrance to Southampton Water, a tidal estuary north of the Isle of Wight in England. It was strategically placed to help guide ships around Calshot Spit, is a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Geyser Lake in Aktash, Russia
Deep in the Altai Republic of Russia lies a brilliantly blue lake, remaining unfrozen year-round, thanks to its thermal springs. Nearly 100 feet wide, but just over six feet deep, it is erroneously...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Park of the Canals in Mesa, Arizona
Despite its arid climate, agriculture flourished in Arizona’s Salt and Gila River valleys for thousands of years. The Hohokam Native Americans initially used floodwater farming to grow corn, beans,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Wax Effigy of Sarah Hare in Stow Bardolph, England
Within the Hare Chapel of Stow Bardolph’s Church of Holy Trinity, sits Sarah Hare—or at least, a disturbingly lifelike approximation of her. On the 9th of April 1744, Hare died of blood poisoning...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bronze Finials on the Upper Bridge in Morioka, Japan
Onion-shaped ornamental finials called giboshi (literally “faux jewel”) are common on bridges across Japan, made of bronze in traditional style. Many of them, however, were made recently to replace...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Taiwan Stock Musuem in Taipei, Taiwan
Hidden inside an unassuming office building in Taipei, the Taiwan Stock Museum sits within a former high-security vault, a fitting home for a collection that preserves Taiwan’s financial history....
View ArticleClik here to view.
108 Grotto Tombs in Kamakura, Japan
The Ten-en hiking trail runs for nearly five miles through the northern mountain area of Kamakura, passing by a number of fascinating rock formations and centuries-old ruins and sculptures. Along the...
View Article