Really, really old food subject of museum talk

MOSES LAKE — Long-preserved food, and what it can tell us about the people who cooked it, will be the subject of a lecture at 6 p.m. Monday at the Moses Lake Museum & Art Center.

Harriet Baskas, Seattle, will talk about “The Ancient Fruitcake: What Really, Really Old Food Tells Us About History, Culture and Memory.” The lecture will be in the Moses Lake Civic Center Auditorium, 401 S. Balsam St.

Admission is free. The lecture is a joint project of the Moses Lake Public Library and the Moses Lake Public Library Foundation.

Ancient civilizations, when burying their dead, left food behind because hey, everybody has to eat, even in the afterlife. Some of that food left traces behind it, which archaeologists study to their advantage. Baskas tells stories about that and other ancient foods, preserved food that’s “so old, so unusual or so meaningful that no one dares throw it away.”

Some old food just tells a really strange story – canned pemmican, anyone? And why did people in first-century Britain and Ireland bury butter (or a butter-like substance) in peat bogs?

Some food apparently got pushed to the back of the pantry for a century or so, like the pickles from the 1860s. Some food is just interesting, like the mummified banana that inspired an entire banana museum. Sometimes food is so interesting it becomes a family heirloom, like the 350-year-old fruitcake – but then again, fruitcake has this reputation.

Baskas calls her lecture a “chew and chat,” although the audience probably won’t get bog butter. The foods “can and do hold memories, tell stories, and connect us with family, culture and history,” she wrote.

Baskas has worked for radio stations in Washington and Oregon and written seven books, including “Hidden Treasures: What Museums Can’t or Won’t Show You.”

The lecture is part of a series scheduled for the fall throughout the North Central Regional Library system, which includes all libraries in Grant County.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.