Articles by Peter Smith from Smithsonian Magazine

What do ham banana rolls with cheese sauce and salmon salad tropical have to say about politics?

February 24, 2012

Microscopy artist Robert Rock Belliveau says, "I couldn't believe the things I found on the things we eat every day"

February 22, 2012

A collection of old community cookbooks reflects a changing ecology and a cultural shift: the decline of hunting, chitlins and pig's feet

February 15, 2012

The counterculture has long been characterized by a single word: “love.” For some hippie communards, love was also a recipe ingredient

February 13, 2012

"I take no man's word for the qualities of a toadstool," said the man who took it upon himself to sample more than 600 species

February 8, 2012

Would Flopsy, Mopsy and Peter Cottontail have been conceived had it not been for the biases of Victorian era science?

February 6, 2012

Does the noise in a Super Bowl stadium create enough power to fry up a dozen eggs?

February 1, 2012

As we approach one of the biggest snack days of the year, meet the "Tom Edison of snack food" who brought us the "Anglo corn chip"

January 30, 2012

What does whale meat taste like, and is it anything like jojoba oil, prosciutto or jellied crustaceans?

January 27, 2012

In 1897, S. A. Andree took off for the pole on board his balloon, complete with a tuxedo he intended to wear upon his arrival in San Francisco

January 25, 2012

Geoducks are a staple of Chinese New Year. But did one grow to the size of a wheelbarrow?

January 23, 2012

How do you catch a penguin supper when you're trapped in Antarctic ice? Play music

January 18, 2012

The replication of a historic whisky might reflect merely our fascination with artificial artifacts---but the whisky yielded a surprise

January 11, 2012

Salmon's powerful, ingrained sense of smell allows them to return to the exact stream of their birth for spawning.

January 9, 2012