WASHINGTON—Julia Child inspired it all.
The acclaimed cook, author, and television personality of the early 1960s who pioneered the beginnings of French cuisine in the United States with her cookbook, “Mastering the Art of French Cuisine,” may have left us, but her legacy is far from finished.
In fact, the popularity of Julia Child’s kitchen—an exhibit at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History featuring the re-mantled kitchen from her Cambridge, Mass. home where she cooked for friends, family and fans has folded into the museum’s newest showcase: FOOD: Transforming the American Table, 1950-2000.
“Julia Child’s kitchen was supposed to be on display for one year, but was up for 10,” said Cory Bernat, food historian and curator of the exhibit, which will be open to the public starting Nov. 20.
Because the new west side of the museum is under construction meant that Child’s exhibit would need to be packed up or moved.
Instead of doing away with the well-acclaimed kitchen exhibit, the museum decided to combine it with a food and wine history project that was started in 1996 by Nancy Edwards, Bernat said.
The project turned into a 3,800-square-foot one-room exhibition featuring numerous smaller exhibits equipped with graphics, real-life appliances and cookware, and video among displays highlighting the history of each subtopic, ranging from food production to winemaking.
Bernat said she hopes the exhibit will help people connect the dots of a very complex food system.
The showcase is the first major exhibition on food history and explores the changes in food and eating habits of people in postwar America.
Within the exhibition, a museum-goer will find several smaller installations:
• “Wine for the Table”: This exhibit highlights the little-known history of winemaking in the United States.
We are talking about “wine that is not a bottle in a paper bag and boozing on the street,” said Paula Johnson, curator in the Division of Work and Industry at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History. “But in many cultures of the world, wine is part of a meal.”
Johnson said an integral part of bringing the tradition of winemaking to the U.S. is in its innovation. Many of these key innovations took place in California where the Wine Advisory Board—established in 1938—sought to educate the public about wine.
Another vital part of winemaking technique relies on understanding the difference in climate in different parts of the state [California], and how grapes will thrive in different areas, Johnson said.
• ”Snack-Time”: Between 1950 and 2000, the U.S. became a nation of snackers.
Between the late 1970’s until the early 1990’s a significant increase in the number of snack food products—500 to 2250 items—were introduced into the market each year. Condiments remained a close contender at over 2250 items added each year in 1993.
Condiments, candy, gum and snacks, fruits and vegetables, bakery foods and entrées, ranged from less than 100 to 375 new items added per year until the late 70s with snack foods and bakery items in very close proximity on the higher end. Fruits and vegetables was consistently the lowest.
In 1993 fruits and vegetables remained the lowest with just above 250 added items per year, entrées at just under 750 items and bakery foods at right under 1500.
During this time, snacks Americans have loved through the generations were produced and still maintain their popularity today.
These snacks include Fritos, one of the first mass produced super market snacks.
Charles Elmer Doolin invented the Frito using hybridized corn.
“Dad bought the recipe, an adapted potato ricer and 19 accounts from a Mexican chef named Gustavo Olquin who was moving back to Mexico,” said Kaleta Doolin, the inventor’s daughter.
“He started the manufacturing in his mother’s kitchen during the depression. They didn’t waste broken chips. My grandma cooked with them which started the idea of cooking with Fritos,” she said.
Kaleta has gone on to write her own book, “Fritos Pie: Stories, Recipes and More” marking the history of the first Frito and recipes she came up with herself.
• “New and Improved”: This section of the exhibit explores some of the major changes in food production, distribution, preparation and consumption in America postwar.
Topics include the rise of large-scale lettuce production in California, the growth of manufactured and processed foods and building and expansion of supermarkets, highways and fast-food chains.
These sections of the exhibit and more will be open Tuesday. The exhibit is scheduled to be available for public viewing for at least two years, though it is likely that it will be up longer, Bernat said.
“Each part of the exhibit has its own stories to share,” Johnson said
IF YOU GO: The exhibit is inside the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW, in Washington. More information online.