December 23, 2022

GASTRO OBSCURA  NYC’s Great Borough Bake-Off  New York City recently hosted “Gingerbread NYC: The Great Borough Bake-Off,” a competition that challenged bakers from across the city’s five boroughs to capture their beloved neighborhoods in gingerbread. The exhibit, hosted by the Museum of the City of New York, showcases the beauty of wintertime New York—albeit in miniature replicas that smell of brown sugar, cinnamon, and ginger.  READ MORE → HOLIDAY TRADITIONS Christmas Food Traditions Wherever Christmas is celebrated, special food is always on the menu. In the Netherlands, children look forward to receiving chocolate letters for their initials on Sinterklaas Day, while in Portugal, Christmas means lampreia de ovos, a sugary likeness of a blood-sucking eel-like parasite. Globalization may have spread some of these customs beyond their original borders—you’re now just as likely to find a festive German Baumkuchen, or “tree cake,” in a Tokyo department store as at a Bavarian Christmas market—but certain ones are still very much rooted in a specific place. Here are just a few of the ones we love here at Gastro Obscura. READ MORE → MOVE OVER, SANTA CLAUS Christmas Dancing Devils The Christmas season in Liberia is marked by the sounds of children singing and playing in the streets. Oh, and also, Old Man Bayka, who might be considered the opposite of Santa Claus. He’s not necessarily evil, but Old Man Bayka is associated with the “dancing devils,” spirits that come from the world of the Poro, or the “bush,” of Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Ivory Coast. Unlike Santa Claus, who gives presents, Old Man Bayka goes from house to house asking for money and gifts for himself.  READ MORE → ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Make Art That Mends In this textile workshop, join maker and mender Erin Eggenburg for a step-by-step overview of the process of visible mending from start to finish. After exploring the contours of repair and learning stitching techniques, patching, and pattern transfers through hands-on practice, participants will start their own unique mending projects—learning how to transform a mundane chore into a unique and expressive art. LEARN MORE → FUN IN THE COLD 9 Winter Traditions There is perhaps no better way to celebrate the holiday season than by partaking in some of the many winter celebrations that take place around the world. While some of these traditions are widely known, others remain smaller local customs. These little-known celebrations of history and heritage offer a glimpse into vibrant cultures and communities. From an annual game of medieval football to a 200-year-old celebration that involves hurling bags of flour, are some of our favorite lesser-known winter celebrations and traditions. READ MORE → GOLDEN VALLEY, ARIZONA Santa Claus, Arizona The Mojave Desert is typically not the place one would choose to honor a man whose traditional home is the North Pole. Yet, that’s what Santa Claus, Arizona attempted to become. It featured several Christmas-themed buildings and visiting children could meet Santa Claus any day of the year, and children and parents could receive mail postmarked with the town’s name. Sadly, in 2021, Santa Claus was razed and the lot was leveled and cleaned. READ MORE → GERMANY Feuerzangenbowle Who needs cookies when you have sugar, booze, and fire? A feuerzangenbowle is a German Christmas drink (literally “fire tongs punch”), but the term also applies to the equipment you need to make it. It’s basically a traditional mulled wine (called glühwein in German) that comes with a rum-soaked sugar loaf. The latter, which sits atop a grate over the wine, is set on fire so all the delicious, boozy sugar can drip into the drink. READ MORE → HOLIDAY SPIRIT From Christmas Tree to Soda Every holiday season, a giant Christmas tree stands in the center square of Kuressaare, a town of about 13,000 people on the Estonian island of Saaremaa. Come January, that mighty spruce topples over and lands in the cocktails of drinkers from Romania to France. This second life is the brainchild of Estonian couple Maarit Pöör and Tarmo Virki, who created Estonic Soda in 2019. The soda comes in three flavors, and uses extracts from pulped needles and branches of spruce or silver fir Christmas trees, as well from juniper trees, which are plentiful in Saaremaa. READ MORE → GASTRO OBSCURA TRIPS A Culinary Adventure from Hanoi to Saigon Vietnam is home to a breathtaking assortment of architectural and natural wonders, and arguably the best street food on the planet. On this nine-day journey, we’ll explore the country through its unique cuisine, tasting our way across north, central, and south Vietnam by way of steaming pork belly meatballs in Hanoi’s Old Quarter and the white rose dumplings of Hoi An. Come with an eager palate, an empty stomach, and, possibly, a flexible return ticket—once you’ve had a taste of this place, it’s difficult to say goodbye. BOOK NOW →