A museum so fine, New Orleans visitors are sure to eat it up
A first-of-its-kind museum in New Orleans will celebrate Southern culinary heritage, from corn bread to kibbeh.

BY AUDRA D.S. BURCH, The Miami Herald

New Orleans, among the undeniably delicious dining capitals of the nation, is now looking to become the home of a food museum that celebrates Southern eats.

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum, now a small exhibit with plans to expand, will explore the region's deep and wide appetite for fare ranging from corn bread, a traditional staple, to kibbeh, a Lebanese dish popular in Alabama.

Organizers believe the museum -- dedicated to the discovery, understanding and role of food in Southern culture -- is the first of its kind in the region.

''The idea is to tell the story of the South through its food,'' said Elizabeth Williams, president of the museum. ``It's not just to learn about corn or moonshine but to talk about the people, the culture, the industry and the science.''

Williams says New Orleans, already a culinary destination, is the perfect place to talk about and taste food.

''The South has long been recognized as one of the most influential and vibrant culinary cultures in the world,'' she said in a statement. ``New Orleans is a natural city to launch our first exhibit as it was historically the culinary crossroads.''

The permanent space is expected to be announced at the end of the exhibit's run in late August.

Once completed, the museum will feature artifacts and exhibits representing 16 Southern states, an archive documenting the industry, equipment, recipes, food-and-drink traditions and a kitchen for demonstrations. It will also host culinary lectures, symposiums and tastings.

The preview exhibit, A Toast of New Orleans, is mounted at a shopping mall next to the Louisiana Superdome. It explores beverages connected to the city, where the cocktail was invented.

'Drinks can be taken for granted: They wash down a po' boy or keep us cool inside the sticky, sultry jazz club, and they are as important as food, music and architecture in making New Orleans unique,'' said exhibit curator Elizabeth Pearce.

Southern culinary experts call the museum a must-have.

''Food and drinks are essential to the Southern identity. We have to save those traditions -- or they will die -- but not in a pickling kind of way. It's not something that should be put away on a shelf,'' said John Egerton, author of Southern Food: At Home, on the Road, in History. ``We have to save it in a way that people can use, that they can take back into their kitchens. In my mind, this is a conservation effort.''

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