Some say food is art.

Now you can enjoy both at the same time at the new “Edible Exhibition” at The Museum of African Art & Culture at 13 Brown St. in Portland.

The Edible Exhibition is a series of dinners for eight to 20 people that features traditional dishes from different regions connected to the  current art exhibition. According to the museum, each dinner “will be dedicated to a particular saint or spirit.”

At Thursday’s dinner (March 14), the menu will include egusi soup with fou-fou (pounded yam), a combination of dishes popular in three Nigerian cultures – the Igbos, Yorubas and the Housa, according to Oscar Mokeme, the museum’s director.

Egusi, he said, is a melon crop honoring the powers of women in these cultures.

The dishes will be served with dry fish, lots of vegetables, and some goat meat for guests who aren’t vegetarian, Mokeme said.

For dessert, there will be mou-mou, a bean cake served with tomato stew.

The dishes will be presented authentically, as they are in their native cultures.

And which saint or spirit will be honored? The month of March is dedicated to all female saints, spirits and female deities, according to Mokeme, so the dinner will honor Ala, the Earth goddess, and Oshun, the goddess of the ocean. Images of these “Mother Earth” goddesses and female saints and spirits will be represented in the exhibition.

The Edible Exhibition dinners, which cost $50 per person, also include a showing of an original documentary film. On Thursday, the film will be “Good Mother,” a true story of how a mother struggled to put her children through school.

The next dinner will be held on March 28.

For reservations, call 871-7188.

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About the Author

Meredith Goad has harvested oysters on the Chesapeake Bay, eaten reindeer in Finland and sipped hot chai in the Himalayas. She writes the weekly Soup to Nuts column and enjoys a good cocktail.

Meredith can be contacted at 791-6332 or mgoad@pressherald.com
On Twitter: @meredithgoad

Susan Axelrod's food writing career began in the kitchen; she owned a restaurant and catering business before turning to journalism more than a decade ago. To relax, she bakes, gardens and hikes with her husband and their two dogs. A newcomer to Portland, she is an online content producer for the Press Herald.

Susan can be contacted at 791-6310 or saxelrod [at] pressherald.com.
On Twitter: @susansaxelrod

Wendy Almeida and her family have a smattering of livestock and a summer garden. After 10 years of her kids being involved in 4-H, she's finally accepted the term "hobby farm" to describe her family's work at sustainable living. These days her morning starts with milking a goat before heading into the office for her day job as an assistant editor for features.

Wendy can be contacted at wea [at] mainetoday.com or on Twitter @wea1021.

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