Celebrating Wikipedia's Wackiest Food

You can't throw a rock without hitting a gorgeously styled photograph of some dish or another here on Food52 -- it's our specialty and we love it. Which is kind of why we love the tumblr WikiFood, both despite and because of its completely opposite MO.

Run by Wikipedia enthusiast Ted Gordon (full disclosure: a good friend of mine!), he created the blog when he realized that the Wikipedia pages for various specialty and ethnic foods -- Crubeens, Samanoo, even American Cheese  -- often had photographs that were obviously uploaded from laymen taking pictures in their own kitchens. The photos themselves are sometimes mysterious (what is hiding beneath this pile of cold cuts?), sometimes unappetizing (these mysterious stuffed grape leaves), and sometimes just kind of poetic (Roesti and this sad little fish). But no matter what, they're all real photos of real food taken in real life -- something that can be difficult to remember after looking at half a dozen distinct, yet similarly eerie photos of marzipan -- and totally mesmerizing to see when they're compiled en masse.

Some of our favorite photos from the tumblr are below, but be sure to check out WikiFood for the whole weird-looking shebang. And hey, Wikipedia can be edited by anybody -- maybe it's time to add your own photo to the pile.