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ELLOREE -- The award-winning Elloree Heritage Museum and Cultural Center is one of five South Carolina sites that will play host to special events during the showing of the Smithsonian exhibit "Key Ingredients -- America By Food."
The museum has been chosen by the Humanities Council of South Carolina and the Smithsonian Institution to show the "Key Ingredients" exhibit as part of the Museum on Main Street project, a national and state partnership designed to bring exhibitions and programs to rural cultural organizations.
Beginning June 27 and running through Aug. 9, the events will showcase the country's rich agriculture, diverse regional and ethnic cuisines and special culinary traditions. Food has often been called the "great social denominator," and it is perhaps the key ingredient to helping individuals better understand their neighbors and themselves, organizers say.
"For generations, South Carolina kitchens have been the source of exceptional food, cooking ingenuity and warm hospitality," said Theresa J. Wallace, South Carolina exhibit tour coordinator. "This state claims a rich heritage of foodways learned from Native Americans and from settlers who came from Spain, England, France, Scotland, Ireland and Germany."
The earliest colonists found a bounty of foods in their new land, including peaches, figs, muscadines, pumpkins, squash, game, fish, nuts and corn. Africans made enormous contributions to the culinary traditions, as okra, field peas, eggplant, peanuts and yams came from Africa.
Undoubtedly, the produce, foods, spices, ethnic cuisines -- as well as the BBQ picnics, potluck dinners, Lowcountry boils, prayer breakfasts and family reunions -- define who South Carolinians are as a people.
"Key Ingredients" explores and celebrates the ordinary. Through photographs, illustrations and artifacts, the exhibit chronicles the connections between Americans and food through the historical, regional and social traditions of everyday meals and celebrations.
In addition to farming, table manners and social history, the exhibition examines the evolution of the kitchen, the technological innovations that bought a wide variety of prepared and fresh foods and the role of local eateries and food celebrations in maintaining community identity.
"Everyone is welcome to attend 'Key Ingredients' and the special events in Elloree," said Adadra Williams, administrative manager of the museum. Elloree Heritage Museum and Cultural Center is located at 2714 Cleveland St., Elloree.
T&D Correspondent Shirley Upton can be reached by e-mail at writer@ntinet.com. Discuss this and other stories online at TheTandD.com.
Related events
* July 8-10 — Children’s Cooking Classes. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Open to children 6 to 10 years of age. $20 per child. Space limited to 15 participants.
* July 15-17 — Children’s Cooking Classes. 10 to 11:30 a.m. Open to children 10 to 14 years of age. $20 per child. Space limited to 15 participants.
* July 26 — A Victorian Tea Party museum fund-raiser. 2 to 4 p.m. Tea tables will be $100 for a table of four and $150 for a table of six each to sponsors of the tea. Call the museum at 803-897-2225 to register as a sponsor for the event.
* July 31 — A Taste of Summer. 7 p.m. Elloree Museum & Cultural Center. Presented by Chris Williams, owner of Soigne’ Catering and chef of Lone Star Barbeque & Mercantile. Participants will enjoy sampling fresh, local seafood dishes and wine pairings. Tickets are $25 each and available at the museum. Seating will be limited.