Our Global Kitchen @ The American Museum of Natural History
Recently, a friend suggested I check out an exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History called Our Global Kitchen, and it could not have been more up my alley. I stood in front of each piece of the exhibit for silly amounts of time, greedily absorbing as much as I could. For anyone interested in food – farming practices, what local means to different cultures, how trade has shaped cuisine, the science of taste, connectivity between food and heritage – this is an extremely informative and fun exhibit that I highly recommend and may end up checking out again!
This exhibit literally walks you through so many details on the history and evolution of food – it’s amazing. The initial portion details how farming practices have changed, evolved to fit while simultaneously shaping our food needs. I was amazed at how chicken and eggs have increased production for our demand.
This is a global exhibit, so getting to see how farming works in other places around the world is fascinating. Though I am a huge fan of Gotham Greens in BK!
You walk through a typical Aztec market and see how ingredients, like chocolate, were used then (savoury not sweet!).
A look at how Kublai Khan ate shows how Mongol rule created a unifying force and a true blend of foods. Is it fusion? Can you call it that?
What’s interesting is that I lightly touch on a few of these points in my cookbook, in terms of how I see food now and evolving in our much younger country. I think history will repeat itself with all of the ethnicities in America contributing to a rich food culture. What do you think?