toledoblade.com --

DUNDEE, Mich. - An exhibit, "Key Ingredients: America by Food," organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, has returned to our area with a decidedly Michigan focus. The exhibit is open until March 16 at the Old Mill Museum, 242 Toledo St., in Dundee. It is accompanied by a Michigan Foodways exhibit, which examines how culture, ethnicity, landscape, and tradition influence the foods and flavors of Michigan. The Michigan exhibit was developed by Yvonne Lockwood, curator at Michigan State University Museum.

The Old Mill Museum and the surrounding community were chosen by the Michigan Humanities Council and the Smithsonian for the exhibit. (Last spring the Smithsonian portion of the exhibit was at the Wood County Historical Center & Museum with an Ohio focus.)

Among the regional Michigan and local foods featured at Dundee's Old Mill Museum are sauerkraut suppers, fish fries, and (Cornish) pasty - savory turnovers of pastry enfolding a chopped meat-and-potato filling that were standard fare in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Muskrat was an early food of French traders. Smoked fish canned in pint jars and pickled smelt and herring are other examples of living off the land and water. The importance of morels, maple sugaring, berries, and foods of Native Americas are also included.

Zoom | Photo Reprints

Michigan's major food companies have included brands such as Jiffy, Kelloggs, Post, Gerber (baby foods), Vernor's, and Big Chief Sugar.

Local wines are featured. Old Mill Museum volunteers picked grapes from the arbors of local home growers. Using the juice from these grapes, Pentamere Winery in Tecumseh bottled heritage red and heritage white wines "made in the old-fashioned way" according to Meg Heinlen, project director and past president of the Historical Preservation Society of Dundee. The Old Mill wine was served at an opening reception Jan. 31 and at a Wild Game and Wine Tasting Feb. 2.

"The essence of both exhibits is, though we have to eat to live, what we eat is determined by our culture," said Ms. Lockwood in a phone interview. "This comes out in both of these exhibits. Geography and history are also stressed and determine the regional foods."

Mrs. Heinlen and Historical Society president Grace Hudson and their committee have planned a variety of special events at the museum, which has an adjoining banquet hall. A fish fry and wine tasting will begin at 3 p.m. Saturday; the cost is $7. A Native American Luncheon is planned at noon Feb. 13; the cost is $11. The Firehouse Chili Challenge is at noon Feb. 17; the cost is $5. A German Fest Dinner and Dance will be at 6 p.m. March 1; the cost is $20. Culinary Arts students from Monroe County Community College will prepare the Michigan Food Luncheon at noon on March 14 at the Old Mill Banquet Hall; the cost is $20. Register at MCCC at 734-384-4272.

For a complete list of food events and to make reservations, call the museum at 734-529-8596 or e-mail museum@dundeeold.mill.com. Exhibit hours are noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday; 7 a.m. to noon Monday and Wednesday; 5 to 9 p.m. Tuesday, and noon to 8 p.m. Friday. It is closed on Thursday.

• • •

Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas by Eric Villegas (Huron River Press, $35) has been selected as one of Michigan's Notable Books for 2008 by the Library of Michigan. Chef Villegas also is the host of the PBS cooking show, Fork in the Road with Eric Villegas. The first season airs at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday on WBGU-TV, Channel 27, through April 1. The second season is to begin April 8. The show may be aired in the spring on WGTE-TV, Channel 30.

Permanent Link