Weirdest Thanksgiving foods: Six of the most unusual holiday dishes

Alongside the traditional roast turkey, sweet potato casserole and pumpkin pie, some Americans are preparing to indulge in slightly more unusual holiday dishes this Thanksgiving.

From the salty pudding phenomenon to boozy birds, here are the five strangest culinary creations from across the pond:

Strawberry pretzel salad

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Far from your typical salad, this American family favourite is made by layering cream cheese, whipped cream and strawberry jam on a base made of crushed salted pretzel sticks. Fans rave about the combination of sweet and salty and soft and crunchy.

One chef reveals the indulgent reasoning behind the incongruous name: "A southern friend told me these sweets are called salads so that you can sneak two desserts."

Tipsy turkey

For the last six years, an Irish pub in New York has been offering guests "a turkey you can eat and drink at the same time, but you'll need a cab home", the New York Post reports.

The boozy bird is injected with various different flavours of 100-proof vodka, served with a vodka gravy, a shot of neat vodka and a vodka martini. The chef boasts: "There's an ounce of vodka in every bite."

Diners are rewarded with a free, and presumably much needed, taxi ride to the location of their choice in Manhattan.

Frog-eye salad

Another unusual "salad", this Mid-Western classic is made of a mixture of shell pasta, oranges and pineapple, cooked eggs, whipped cream and marshmallows and may not be to everybody's taste.

The dish is, however, particularly popular in Utah and the surrounding states, especially among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the New York Times reports.

Another Midwestern holiday favourite, glorified rice, does similarly unimaginable things to one of the world's staple grains. Once again, the dish involves whipped cream, marshmallows and pineapple, this time added to cooked rice and topped with maraschino cherries. Yum.

Sweet potato casserole

The name of this classic Thanksgiving treat may not sound unusual, but it's a little misleading. That's because the name leaves out the second key ingredient in the dish – marshmallows.

Yes, marshmallows again, this time liberally scattered over the sweet potato to create a fluffy topping. And sugar, of course, as if the casserole wasn't sweet enough already.

"Weird as f***" is GQ writer Dana Schwarz's unvarnished verdict. The sugar-laden side dish is an "amorphous mush comprised entirely of diabetes and those annoying little strings that come out of sweet potatoes", she says.

How did marshmallows, usually consigned to toasting over fires or topping mugs of hot chocolate, get such a place of honour on traditional Thanksgiving menus?

Americans have been duped by a decades-long corporate scam, says the LA Times. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, marshmallow manufacturers bombarded the public with widely circulated recipe booklets advocating the inclusion of marshmallows in everything from fudge to, yes, casseroles.

However, despite the sweet potato casserole's uninspiring origin as a corporate ploy to increase marshmallow sales, "for better and (definitely) for worse, those weird marshmallow dishes are here to stay", says the LA Times.

Turkey cake

"Essentially a meatloaf cake" made up of minced Turkey, Salon reports. But instead of real icing, the recipe requires layers of an unusual mixture of mashed potato, marshmallows and sweet potatoes.

Brussels sprout soda

Can't be bothered to cook (or chew) your Thanksgiving dinner? The Jones Soda company has you covered. It released a limited edition collection of holiday-inspired fizzy drinks in 2005, featuring flavours like wild herb stuffing, turkey and gravy, and even the dreaded Brussels sprout.

The range has been discontinued, but the special packs are still selling for up to $69.95 on Ebay. Keen to know what it tastes like before you commit to spending that on bottled sprouts?

"I about gagged on this drink," says BevReview's Steve Tanner. "Uniquely, it tasted very buttery. Not expected at all."

"It tastes like a dying breath stored in a box in a hot place for six months," says Max from the Mary Sue. "It is easily one of the worst, most foul and stale things to ever go in my mouth."