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Arts & Culture / Food

Miracle fruit, or Synsepalum dulcificum, grows on bushy trees native to West Africa.

Can This Berry Solve Both Obesity and World Hunger?

At a playful café in Chicago, chef Homaro Cantu is experimenting with miracle fruit, a West African berry that makes everything a little sweeter

The Range cooking thermometer for iPhone/iPad could be the perfect gift for a tech-inclined foodie.

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

What to Give to Your Favorite Foodie This Holiday Season

Special sauces, spices and tools will delight the amateur chef in your life

2014 Holiday Gift Guide

Best Gifts of 2014 for Nature Lovers

Smithsonian editors, gardeners and scientists offer ideas to give the gifts that keep wildlife thriving

Instead of pumpkin pie, consider serving boereg.

What Do America’s Top Chefs Cook for Thanksgiving?

A quick survey of some of the unique dishes that restaurant chefs prepare for their own family dinner

As Prohibition shut bars, an ad touted the family’s coffeehouse as a place to linger.

The Roosevelt Family Built a New York Coffee Chain 50 Years Before Starbucks

Teddy Roosevelt’s children brought fresh-roasted beans and European coffeehouse culture to Manhattan

John Chapman, known as Johnny Appleseed, planted orchards across the frontier.

The Real Johnny Appleseed Brought Apples—and Booze—to the American Frontier

The apples John Chapman brought to the frontier were very different than today’s apples—and they weren’t meant to be eaten

A zombie enjoys a bite of pan de muertos at a Day of the Dead celebration in Atlanta, Georgia.

Halloween

Barmbrack, Toffee and Other Treats to Have an Around-the-World Halloween Celebration

This weekend’s celebrations extend beyond snarfing down Hershey and Mars bars

The recipes from pizza maker Tony Gemignani's latest book, The Pizza Bible, will make your mouth water if the scrumptious images haven't already done the trick.

Want to Know How to Make Great Pizza? Consult the Guy Who Wrote the Bible on It

Tony Gemignani knows everything there is to know about making pizza, and now he’s telling you his secrets

Mario Batali on Why Farmers Should Be the True Stars of the Restaurant World

In his new cookbook, Mario Batali looks to farmers from across the country for inspiration

Revelers celebrating Oktoberfest Brisbane

Best Places to Celebrate Oktoberfest Other Than Munich

If drinking beer and eating schnitzel alongside 6 million people doesn’t appeal to you, here are places to celebrate while avoiding Munich’s crowds

Blue crabs crawl inside a bushel on a boat off the coast of the Smith Island town of Tylerton, Maryland.

Anthropocene

In 100 Years, Maryland’s Crab Cakes Might Be Shrimp Cakes

Rising temperatures and a more acidic ocean may spell trouble for the Chesapeake Bay’s iconic crabs, oysters and fish

Sorry, rover. Planting a garden will have to wait.

Four Handy Tips for Growing Your Garden on Mars

Is it possible to have a green thumb on the Red Planet? Perhaps, after you’ve mastered a few space gardening tricks

A coffee roaster does a taste test in Los Angeles.

New Research

Five Coffee Mysteries the Bean’s Genes May Crack

The newly sequenced coffee genome might reveal the origins of caffeine and pave the way for better-tasting, healthier brews

The Napa Valley may be beautiful, but its fertile soil is a double-edged sword.

Why Earthquakes Make Napa Wine Taste So Good

The soil that makes Napa Valley grapes so special also makes the region vulnerable to earthquakes

Jessica Rath sculpts paragon and roma tomatoes from life.

Art Meets Science

These Sculptures of Giant Tomatoes Are Ripe For the Picking

What physical traits do humans find desirable? Artist Jessica Rath looks in her grocery store’s produce section for answers

Ginger chicken donburi from Ivan Ramen at Gotham West Market tastes as delicious as it looks.

How Dinner at a Food Court Has Become Something Exciting, not Excruciating

A new trend across America’s urban centers has reinvigorated the nation’s taste buds

Customers shop at the Deering Oaks Farmers' Market in Portland, Maine.

Where is Your Closest Farmers’ Market?

Farmers’ markets are becoming more and more ubiquitous. Use this map to find the one nearest your home

Your Guide to Shopping at the Farmers’ Market and Keeping Your Purchases Fresh at Home

The summer is prime time for shopping at the farmers market, yet, making those finds last can be a challenge

A variety of neomexicanus, a varietal of hops native to the American Southwest.

In Search of the Great American Beer

Once considered unfit for brewing, wild American hops are making their solo debut on the beer market. Will it change the way we think of American beer?

No wonder unagi is so popular - this picture looks good enough to eat!

How Will Japan Celebrate Summer Without Unagi

The freshwater eel is now endangered, but who is to blame and what are the best substitutes?

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