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Food History

Napoleon in battle, presumably craving rotisserie chicken

Cool Finds

Napoleon Had a Thing for Rotisserie Chicken

The military powerhouse ate chicken dinners 24/7 — even as his army starved

Bermuda

There’s Only One Way to Make a Dark ‘n’ Stormy Without Breaking the Law

The cocktail has a surprising, and litigious history

An African American soldier is shown cooking at the camp kitchen of 2nd New York Regiment during the Civil War

Cool Finds

The Civil War’s Division of North and South is Reflected in Cookbooks

Naval blockades kept the South starving for salt and other foods, a fact reflected in the recipes of the time

Cool Finds

In 1938, the NY Times Wrote About a Weird New Food: The Cheeseburger

Apparently, cheese on meat needed some explanation

A champagne toast for all leads into a gourmet meal.

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Paris

Eat Like a Parisian in a Parisian Apartment

An Internet-based service allows visitors an authentic taste of food, friendship and culture

Still from Coca-Cola advertisement

American History Museum Scholar on the History of the “I’d Like to Buy the World a Coke” Advertisement

The commercial that closed out the series finale of “Mad Men,” explained

New Research

The First GMO Is 8,000 Years Old

Scientists find that bacteria modified DNA in sweet potatoes millennia ago

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Paris

Is the Croissant Really French?

A brief history of the croissant – from kipfel to Cronut

Successes were matched by failures like the McLean Deluxe, made with seaweed to save calories.

Taking Stock of 75 Years of McDonald’s

Has the original fast-food restaurant finally reached the end of its success?

Filipino Cuisine Was Asian Fusion Before “Asian Fusion” Existed

A wave of Filipino families in Las Vegas is putting a Pacific spin on fried chicken, hot dogs and Sin City itself

A modern-day bottle of Veuve Clicquot "Grand Dame" champagne.

New Research

170-Year-Old Champagne Recovered (and Tasted) From a Baltic Shipwreck

The uncorked bubbly goes from notes of wet hair and cheese to something spicy and smoky, enologists report

How the India Pale Ale Got Its Name

A look to the hoppy brew’s past brings us to the revolution in craft beer today

Cool Finds

Here’s What the Apostles Ate at the Last Supper

Beans, charoset, and unleavened bread

Cool Finds

That Time an Astronaut Smuggled a Corned Beef Sandwich To Space

The sandwich was a joke but its crumbs proved to be too much — for politicians, not for the mission

New Research

You Can Thank the Ancient Maya for Your Grocery Store’s Papaya

New research suggests the Mesoamerican civilization was responsible for first cultivating the hermaphrodite version of the plant favored by growers

A vineyard in Pomerol, Aquitaine, France

Cool Finds

American Bugs Almost Wiped Out France’s Wine Industry

When the Great French Wine Blight hit in the mid 1800s, the culprit turned out to be a pest from the New World that would forever alter wine production

New Research

People Ate Pork in the Middle East Until 1,000 B.C.—What Changed?

A new study investigates the historical factors leading up to the emergence of pork prohibition

Bartender making mint julep cocktail.

Are We Re-Entering a Golden Age of American Bartending?

At the turn of the century, America was a hotbed of cocktail innovation—then Prohibition happened. Now, bartenders are trying to reclaim the golden age.

A chocolate pot from Yokohama, Japan, ca. 1904. Porcelain with clear glaze and overglaze enamels

Chocolate Week

A Brief History of the Chocolate Pot

How humans have consumed chocolate sheds lights on its significance to cultures and eras

In some parts of the country, this is what duck sauce looks like. In others, not so much.

Ask Smithsonian

What Exactly Is Duck Sauce?

Trying to get to the bottom of this Chinese food mystery sends our writer on a wild goose chase

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