10 food-focused museum exhibits

A popular part of the 'FOOD' exhibit is the kitchen used for filming famous chef Julia Child’s television show in the ’90s. It contains tools and equipment from the 1940s up to 2001, when Childs donated the kitchen to the Smithsonian.

America’s love affair with snacks is no secret and it’s one of the many things examined at the 'FOOD' exhibit. There’s even a special portion devoted to Super Bowl snacks.

'Beerology' at the San Diego Museum of Man examines how beer was invented by ancient civilizations and how it has evolved to its current incarnation. Ancient artifacts and drinking vessels, surprising trivia and scheduled tastings make this a can’t-miss exhibit for anyone interested in the craft of brewing.

This section on the Moche civilization of northern Peru, which was active from 100 to 800 AD, studies the importance of corn beer in the ancient culture and displays ceramic drinking vessels made by the Moche people.

This solid gold beer cup belonged to an Inca King. Beerology is on display through February 2017.

A small but informative exhibit, 'CHOW: Making the Chinese American Restaurant' traces the 170-year history of Chinese food in America at the Museum of Food and Drink in Brooklyn.

Highlights include a culinary studio that will feature a dish created by a local chef each month to exemplify a Chinese cooking technique like velveting or stir fry, which will offer visitors tastings. In December, visitors can try honey walnut shrimp by Jonathan Wu of Fung Tu, and tofu with crab sauce by Jeremiah Stone of Contra and Wildair will be featured in January.

A machine in one corner of the exhibit spits out freshly made fortune cookies for visitors to eat.

A wall displays Chinese restaurant menus from all over the USA.

In Philadelphia, Pizza Brain is a collection of pizza-themed memorabilia housed in a small space, which is conveniently attached to a pizza shop.

Items like pizza-themed artwork, games and collectibles are all on display -- including a pizza chef Barbie and pizza delivery Ken doll.

Hundreds of record albums with pizza images on them adorn the walls at Pizza Brain.

Opened in 2008, New Orleans' Southern Food & Beverage Museum is dedicated to the South’s cuisine and culinary history.

A main draw is the 'Gallery of the South: States of Taste', a collection of exhibits focusing on the food of each state in the South, exploring ingredients, recipes, people, brands, dishes and agriculture.

The museum hosts weekly lunch demonstrations on Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Through January 2017 the focus will be on Creole-Italian dishes. Participants watch demonstrations, eat lunch and take home the recipes.

At Cleveland Museum of Natural History, 'Our Global Kitchen' goes back to the dark ages to show how food has been at the center of human history for centuries. The traveling exhibit was originally created at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

There are special interactive areas for children at the exhibit. The exhibit also details how today’s global food economy evolved and explains social justice and sustainability challenges we face. Visit on Saturdays or Sundays to catch the live food demonstrations highlighting various cuisines from around the world.

Ancient farming and cooking artifacts are on display as well as a recreated ancient marketplace that visitors can walk through. This wooden mold from the late 1800s was used to shape cakes that would be given to family and friends during China’s Autumn Moon Festival. The leaping carp is a symbol of plenty.

Possibly the most complete collection of food-related items, the Culinary Arts Museum at Johnson & Wales University is devoted to food and mankind’s relationship to it. In Providence, R.I., the university's College of Culinary Arts offers students a window into the gastronomic past. Industrialist Paul Fritzsche donated 7,500 rare and historical cookbooks, and chef Louis Szathmáry donated most of his enormous culinary collection.

Items at the Culinary Arts Museum include 60,000 cookbooks, celebrity chef jackets and other memorabilia, an exhibit tracing the evolution of the stove, and an exhibit devoted to dessert, which includes an installation of the Agora Ice Cream Parlor from New York City.

Also on display are various re-creations or installations of restaurants, taverns and diners, including a Worcester lunch car.

At the Dali Museum in St. Petersburg, Fla., 'Ferran Adria: The Invention of Food' features photography, video, and flatware and vessels designed by world-famous chef Ferran Adria, formerly of El Bulli in Spain, which was considered the best restaurant in the world before it closed in 2011.

A video catalogue of every dish (all 1,846 of them) ever created at El Bulli plays on a large wall, and there are photographs of exquisite dishes and their natural inspirations, among other displays.

Food is on-hand in the form of pata negra, a jamon iberico imported from Spain, which is sliced for tasting in one corner of the room between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The exhibit runs through November 27.

Many star Chinese chefs, including pioneers like Ming Tsai and Anita Lo, and newer restauranteurs like Danny Bowien and Vivian Ku, are featured in the immersive video experience in 'Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy: Stories of Chinese Food and Identity in America' at the Museum of Chinese in America in New York City. The centerpiece is a banquet table with items selected by each chef from their kitchens and unique ceramic vessels to represent each chef and 18 regional cooking styles.

Ceramic sculptors created unique vessels to represent the 18 cooking regions of China. This one, by artist Lu Zhang, represents the Sichuan region.

Tools and artifacts lent by Chinese-American chefs to the museum are on display, including items like cleavers, rice cookers and wooden chopsticks.

Curated by two-time James Beard Award winner Rebekah Denn, 'Edible City: A Delicious Journey' details food in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest, with displays on the history of Pike Place Market, the origins of the Rainier cherry, and the story of Marra Farm in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood.

Dick Yoshimura founded the Mutual Fish Company in Seattle in 1947 and was celebrated and revered by many area chefs who were customers. He and other Seattle food pioneers are celebrated at the Museum of History & Industry exhibit.