Smithsonian.com

Food and Think hereby solemnly declares that this week shall henceforth be known as Chocolate Week. In the spirit of this holiday and in pursuit of journalistic excellence, the FaT bloggers shall contemplate and consume the aforementioned substance as frequently as possible.

In other words, I’m using the excuse of Valentine’s Day to focus on one of my favorite foods all week long! Let’s start with a brief history of chocolate, a piece I wrote last year around this time (accompanied by the above video, narrated with what I thought was my best serious-documentarian voice, but in retrospect sounds more like I’m reading a children’s story).

You might also want to check out this piece from the magazine’s archives about a traditional chocolate-making utensil, the molinillo. And Hugh wrote an interesting post about chocolate and globalization last year for the Gist (the science blog that preceded Surprising Science).

If you’re in the DC area, I highly recommend stopping by Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian this weekend for “The Power of Chocolate” festival, replete with lectures, demonstrations, music, dancing—and best of all, tastings!