What are some foods that you are surprised to learn that people you know have never heard of, or have never tried?

There was an article in one of our local free papers (they have these free papers in most of the communities in our counties in Southern CA, and I enjoy looking at them, especially for the restaurant reviews) and there was an article by a woman who appeared to be about 60, less than 10 years older than me, and she went on to talk about all of these “unusual” things that she had never heard of, and had never tasted before, until this very week.

Some of the things she listed: flat bread (she thought all bread was flat, and didn’t understand what that even meant), and hummus, tahini (OK, I’ll give her that one, even though tahini is an ingredient in hummus), and pesto, and pizza being made with this mystery flat bread (even though flat bread pizza is pretty much a staple in every pub/bar/brewery/burger joint in California.

What things have made you scratch your head and wonder if people have been living under a rock, when they mention that they have never heard of, or tasted a specific food item.

Believe it or not, a bunch of people I know have never heard of cardamom. Can you believe that? Lol.

A few others I couldn’t believe were: sriracha sauce, jerk seasoning, basil, ricotta cheese, butternut squash, Portobello mushrooms, dried bread crumbs (you know, the type that you sprinkle on homemade mac and cheese before you bake it).

What foods are you surprised that people you know have never heard of, or have never tasted?