Foods Jon Opol Has Tried

These pull-apart rolls were once baked with lottery tickets in the center.

Once steamed in shirt sleeves and pant legs, this sweet roll took on the nickname “dead man's leg.”

Grandmas fashion this near-forgotten Passover treat from ginger and honey.

The first American doughnut chain used spuds.

On April 14, lonely South Korean singles are encouraged to drown their sorrows in black noodles.

The cool Colombian treat blends shaved ice with syrup, fruit, and anything from wafer cookies to cheese.

Once a treatment for heat stroke, the herbal gel now flavors desserts.

Kyrgyzstan’s fried dough marks special occasions and "feeds" the dead.

Peru's strikingly beautiful mashed potato casserole.

This alcoholic drink has medicinal properties (and sometimes contains turtle penis).

The world's least practical and most delicious edible straw.

They're a Baltimore-specific guilty pleasure.

In Senegal, black coffee meets sugar ’n’ spice in one heady brew.

This tasty Czech pastry is now a Texan tradition.

Saffron, rose water, and pistachios combine in a fragrant, sweet-savory treat.

Meat covered in gelatinous goo was once a classic American comfort food.

The cure and cause of a burning tongue.

The melon has its own sculpture, festival, and order of knights.

You put the grater in the coconut...

These absorbent stalks make perfect flavor sponges in Vietnamese cuisine.

It's expensive, it's gelatinous, it's made from swiftlet spit.

The nut goes from oak tree to savory, sesame-topped side in a matter of days.

Bitter, sweet, and salty collide in this cool Taiwanese treat.

Soviet cafeterias whipped up this chocolate “potato” to use leftovers.