Appetite for History

To learn about our region from an unconventional angle, look at the dinner table. Who we are is reflected by what dishes are present. The Museum of Ventura County’s current exhibition “At Table,” on display through February 3, 2019, explores how the county’s residents have placed their stamp on our culinary and agriculture scenes, from the Mission Era to today.

Lifelong local Anna Bermudez, curator of collections and exhibits at the museum, has wanted to do a food exhibition for a long time. “Agriculture is such an important part of our history in Ventura County, and I thought it was important to talk about how immigration into the county over the years has transformed what we eat and how we eat.”

Immigrants brought their dishes and adapted them based on what produce they could find or grow locally. The exhibit will focus on the influence of immigrants from China, Japan, the Philippines and Mexico. “We will also touch briefly on later immigrant groups, such as Vietnamese, Thai, Central American, South American and Middle Eastern,” she says.

In one interactive exhibit, visitors are invited to guess what dishes were popular over the years. They can also wax nostalgic as they look at photos and menus from restaurants that are gone but not forgotten, like the Colonial House in Oxnard and The SideCar in Ventura. It’s fun to see how the menus have changed over the years, Bermudez says.

The exhibition showcases the top crops from the 1800s and today and includes information on what’s happening in the local food movement.

Museum of Ventura County
100 E. Main St., Ventura
805-653-0323
VenturaMuseum.org