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Arts & Culture / Food

Blueberry endocarp

Fruits and Vegetables Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Microscopy artist Robert Rock Belliveau says, “I couldn’t believe the things I found on the things we eat every day”

Billy Collins is a two-time poet laureate of the United States and Smithsonian's poetry consultant.

The Unfortunate Traveler by Billy Collins

Smithsonian’s poetry consultant writes a poem specially for the photography issue

The Canary Islands are known for their potatoes.

The Best and Worst of Canarian Food

There are two delicacies unique to the Canary Islands that every visitor should try at least once—and in the case of one of them, once is quite enough

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Nothing Out of the Ordinary: Squirrel Stewed, 1878

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

Let's Kiss.

Everything You Wanted to Know About Food and Sex (But Were Afraid to Ask)

What is the term for a “euphoric sensation upon eating amazingly delicious food”

“Commune Gothic” Summer 1970

Brotherhood Spirit in Flesh Soup, or a Recipe Calling For Love

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

Charles McIlvaine, Pioneer of American Mycophagy

“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

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Sugar of Lead: A Deadly Sweetener

Did ancient Romans, Pope Clement II or Ludwig van Beethoven overdose on a sweet salt of lead?

Bedtime Reading From Beatrix Potter: Amateur Mycologist

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

The Sally Lunn bun (left) and the Bath bun (right)

The Squishy History of Bath’s Buns

Was Sally Lunn a 17th-century Huguenot refugee named Solange Luyon? Or just a great tall tale?

Eintopf

The Battle for Food in World War II

A new book examines how food figured into the major powers’ war plans

An abstract image of an egg

Where Jet Engines, Football Fans and Eggs Collide

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

Adam Bernbach making drinks with organic local gin.

Jose Andres and Other Toques of the Town Honor Alice Waters

What do you cook for famed chef Alice Waters? Washington’s culinary celebrities faced this challenge at the unveiling of her portrait at the Smithsonian

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Frito Pie and the Chip Technology that Changed the World

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”

Saving the Whales (And Eating Them Too?)

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

The Eagle headed across the harbor at Dane

Picnicking in the Polar Fog

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

The Curious Case of a Gigantic Sham Clam

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

Meringue cookies

Meringue Chemistry: The Secrets of Fluff

If these things were made by Renaissance chefs in the days before electric mixers, surely I could manage to whip some up myself

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Food Futures for 2012: Blogs, Books and Feeds to Watch

Which sites are particularly worth your time this year?

“Penguin Interviews,” via Frederick Cook’s Through the first Antarctic night, 1896-1899.

A Different Kind of Dinner Bell in the Antarctic

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

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