Introducing: The Foodie Challenge

We love food. And we know that you love food too – as frankly, it’s a huge part of the travel experience. So we here at Intelligent Travel decided to pair up with National Geographic Foods of the World to introduce the first ever Foodie Challenge. And we’re pretty darn excited about it.

Here’s the deal: Add your favorite food photo from your travels to our Flickr pool, and be sure to include the story that went with it in the details. Then tag your photos NGTFC. We’ll be accepting photos added today through Friday, December, 12. Then we’ll have our expert panel of judges (namely, us) go through the photos and decide on the winners. But we’re going to ask our readers for assistance (more on that soon), so if you want to help your cause, be sure to tell your friends about the challenge. And since no challenge is any fun without prizes, we’ve got that too. Find out what we’re giving away after the jump (hint: it involves chocolate).

LOTS OF IT! Our top five picks will each win a Chocolates of the World Gift box, which has us drooling already. Here’s what you’ll find inside:

Five different chocolate bars from around the world make up this collection, all artfully arranged in one of our signature gift boxes. Chocolate Bars from Around the World offers a selection of pure chocolate and uniquely flavored chocolate with nuts, caramels, and spices.

• El Rey’s Single Origin Bucare Dark Chocolate 58.5 percent has a robust cacao aroma with pleasant overtones of fruit. It has great character, texture, and a long, lingering flavor

• Venezuelan chocolate blends with pasilla chili, cayenne pepper and cinnamon, in Venchi Cuor di Cacao from the Piedmont–a sultry bar made from a blend of Central and South American beans

• Vosges’s stunning Exotic Candy Bar produces a burst of flavor and texture bringing along intoxicating aromas and a fruity, robust finish

• Berkshire Bark’s Mocha Buzz contains fresh roasted almonds, homemade caramel, cocoa nibs, and crushed coffee beans

• And from Italy, Casa Don Puglisi, a unique chocolate bar with raw cocoa and sugar pressed together–not melted–to maintain a pure cocoa flavor. Italian pistachios finish off this exquisite bar

National Geographic’s Foods of the World program is a new culinary destination where consumers can experience and share the world’s food and cultures online at www.NatGeoFood.com. Offering a diverse assortment of competitively priced artisanal and specialty items from more than 30 countries, Foods of the World is designed as a shopping resource for consumers interested in receiving fresh, high-quality foods from around the world. All of which is to say, it’s also perfect for holiday gifts.

So add your favorite food photos to our pool and try to score yourself a present this holiday season!