Tennessee State Museum
Sandor Katz’s Fermentation Kitchen
Tennessee State Museum will explore the rich and diverse history of Tennessee's food through their new exhibition, Let's Eat! Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food.
The temporary exhibition is set to open today, August 9, 2019 and run through February 2, 2020 at the Museum's Bicentennial Capitol Mall State Park location in Nashville.
“Whether barbecued, fried, roasted, pickled, or chilled, the food of Tennessee, and the southern United States, is a meeting of Southeastern Indian, West European, and West African cultural groups,” says Rob DeHart, the exhibition’s curator.
Tennessee State Museum
Four-Way Soul Food Restaurant
“Many cooks, who were primarily women, took the proteins, vegetables, and cooking traditions of each group, then experimented, taste-tested, and created delicious meals. The evolution of Tennessee food continues as foreign-born recent arrivals inspire new flavors.”
Tennessee State Museum
Helen Turner with her granddaughter, of Helen’s Bar-B-Q in Brownsville, Tennessee is one of the cooks profiled in the new exhibition.
The exhibition will be presented through eight sections that trace the state's food from its Southeastern Indian origins to contemporary food festival celebrations. All sections are complemented by artifacts from the museum's collection, digital storytelling, graphics, and location photography.
For more information about Let’s Eat! The Origins and Evolutions of Tennessee Food visit tnmuseum.org.