March 10, 2023

GASTRO OBSCURA  A Misunderstood Winter Delicacy  For the Inughuit of northwest Greenland, a staple at communal winter gatherings is kiviaq, a dish made by stuffing 300 to 500 whole birds into the hollowed-out carcass of a seal, snitching it up, then burying it under rocks for a few months to ferment. After it’s dug up and opened, people skin and eat the birds one at a time. While foreigners often view kiviaq as an object of disgust and ridicule, it’s actually a manifestation of Arctic ingenuity and a prime example of how cultures develop distinct tastes and delicacies.  READ MORE →   PAST AND PRESENT Conza’s Split History The thousand-year history of Conza della Campania, a town in the southern Apennines of Italy, was interrupted by the earthquake of November 23, 1980. A magnitude 6.9 tremblor, it killed 2,914 people, including 184 in Conza alone. If one travels to “Conza della Campania” today, they will be in a different place, a new town of modern villas, with large roundabouts and a regular plan. But this iteration of Conza isn’t where it used to stand. It had to be moved—because of what the damage of the earthquake revealed. READ MORE →   VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA Moss Lady Moss covers this giant sleeping woman like a snug green blanket. Flowering Crocosmia plants sprout from her head, giving her what looks like a spiky haircut speckled with colorful blossoms. Constructed in 2015, The Moss Lady looks like she could be an identical twin to the Mud Maid in Cornwall’s Lost Gardens of Heligan. In fact, the Canadian version was directly inspired by the English artwork. READ MORE →   ATLAS OBSCURA COURSES Experimental Perfumery Led by Saskia Wilson-Brown, the founder and director of The Institute for Art and Olfaction, this course will provide an overview of perfumery—from the history and foundations of the craft to the contemporary industry and experimental perfume practices. We'll look at a historic formula, spend time smelling our materials, create several short perfume formulas, and wrap up the course with a glimpse into the perfume industry with a focus on independent and experimental practices. ENROLL NOW →   HOLLYWOOD MAGIC Go Behind The Scenes Each year the Academy Awards ceremony celebrates talents on the silver screen—but we like it behind the scenes, where movie magic is made from unexpected ingredients (think celery and whipped cream) and in unusual places (an abandoned Paris subway platform and one particular Los Angeles alley). Here are some of our favoriteAtlas Obscura stories that reveal a different side of Tinseltown. READ MORE →   FOODWAYS Where Did Long Pepper Go? Before black pepper came to dominate fancy cooking in the Roman Empire, before culinary tradition made it ubiquitous in American food today, long pepper—the first type of pepper ever to reach Europe—was even more prized. But long pepper is almost entirely forgotten today. How did it fade into obscurity?  READ MORE →   BURNING QUESTIONS World’s Biggest Bird In 1983, volunteers excavating a field at the Charleston International Airport came across something enormous. Perhaps, they thought, it was a whale—this area had once been a prehistoric seabed. After all, fossil remains of ancient rays, skates, and a toothed whale had been found here. But this was no fish or marine mammal. It was a bird, later called Pelagornis sandersi, which boasted a wingspan of an astounding 24 feet. But whether P. sandersi was the biggest bird ever depends on how we define the term. READ MORE →   PARIS, FRANCE Remnants of the Paris Guillotine If one was blissfully unaware of the history of Paris, one might simply trip over these five indents in the street without realizing they were once the foundation for a guillotine that carried out executions for the entire city. READ MORE →   GASTRO OBSCURA TRIPS Tracing Lisbon's Culinary Roots Journey beyond Lisbon’s tiled buildings and narrow streets to discover the city's long legacy and vibrant innovations in culinary inventiveness. On this trip, we'll learn about the voyages and trade routes that stocked Europe’s pantry with spices, and sample the contemporary fare that inflects traditional dishes with influences from Goa and beyond. BOOK NOW →