Foods Ian Hall Has Tried

No Bonfire Night is complete without a cup of this warm, vinegar-flavored snack.

These entrails identified safe venues for Black musicians during the Jim Crow era.

Don't call the crown jewel of New Jersey "Canadian bacon."

Deep-fried grasshoppers make a tangy, crispy taco filling.

Baloney's predecessor is sweet, delicately spiced, and bigger than your head.

Beer-brewing monks make aromatic, ale-flavored cheese in the Belgian countryside.

This phallic, giant clam is the culinary crown jewel of the Pacific Northwest.

Touted as the original energy bar, the bison-based mixture kept for months.

This raw meat meze from Lebanon is as fresh as it gets.

It's so much more than just mayonnaise and ketchup.

Pastrami fans will find the taste of this Canadian spice blend very familiar.

This mushroom tastes just like chicken.

Early 20th-century chefs used beaver musk to give sweets a vanilla-raspberry flavor.

In ancient Rome, this fermented fish sauce sparked a booming industry.

Flavoring everything from dumplings to mochi, this sweet and salty paste shows another side to edamame.

Beekeepers in the United States' southeastern swamplands are fighting to preserve this smooth, sweet delicacy.

The oldest fruit native to North America is probably the least known.

The fruit so pungent it's banned from trains, hotels, and public places.

These intricate stamps are relics from a time when dairy farmers beautifully branded their products.

This cousin of root beer has a long history and a surprisingly minty taste.

A bar sharing a basement with a pickle place led to an unusual drink.

A World War I sugar shortage led an inventor to make a very cherry soda that looks like wine.

Donn Beach wrote the recipe for his famously potent cocktail in secret code.

One of the world's least-loved liquors calls Chicago home.