Culinary Expeditions

Art of Food — Produced by Monica Rogozinski

Culinary Expeditions is the result of a two-year collaboration between the Penn Museum staff and the Women’s Committee of the Penn Museum. This full-color publication includes photographs of food-related Museum artifacts, and sections describing foods, food-making techniques, and stories about the cultures and cultural regions represented in the Museum’s international collection: Africa and ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome, Asia and the Middle East, Mesoamerica and Native America. Ten recipes from each region, including some from ancient cultures, and short essays about featured ingredients, are designed to whet appetites and draw readers into the kitchen—and to the galleries of the Penn Museum for inspiration.

Inspired viewers can call or email to order Culinary Expeditions.

The Penn Museum will be offering a Culinary Expeditions self guided tour, and foods from the recipe book in their Pepper Mill Café this fall — check the museum schedule for details.

Web Extra: Watch Culinary Expeditions’ managing editor Jane Hickman, and recipe editor Cheryl Baker, prepare a recipe from the book’s Mesoamerica section and a recipe from Native America.

Turkey in Mole Sauce (Mesoamerica)

Ingredients
  • 5-6 pounds skin-on, bone-in turkey portions (legs, thighs, breasts as preferred)
  • 1 quart turkey stock
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1/4 cup corn oil
  • 2 medium onions, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground anise seed
  • 4 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
  • 3/4 cup unsalted roasted peanuts
  • 4 soft tortillas, torn into small pieces
  • 2 cups chopped tomato
  • 3 dried ancho chilies, reconstituted and chopped
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 3 ounces unsweetened chocolate, chopped
Directions

1. Bring stock and bay leaves to boil in a large pot.

2. Add turkey pieces. Return to boil. Reduce to simmer. Cover and cook 1 hour.

3. Remove turkey pieces to a platter. Reserve stock. When turkey is cool, remove skin, bones, and cartilage. Tear meat into large chunks and place in 9 x 3″ baking dish.

4.Heat 2 tablespoons oil and saute onion, garlic, and green pepper until very soft.

5.Transfer onion mixture to a food processor. Add 1 cup reserved stock, cumin, cinnamon, anise seed, sesame seed, peanuts, tortilla pieces, tomatoes, and ancho chilies. Puree until very smooth.

6. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

7. Heat remaining oil in a large skillet. Add puree mixture and simmer 15 minutes, stirring constantly.

8. Stir chocolate, salt, and remaining stock into sauce. Whisk until chocolate melts.

9. Pour sauce over turkey in casserole and bake covered 1 hour. Serves 8-10*

Fresh Corn and Lima Succotash (Native America)

Ingredients
  • 1 cup freshly shelled lima beans
  • 2 cups fresh corn kernels (cut from 3-4 ears)
  • 1 shallot, sliced thin
  • 1 medium zucchini or yellow squash, diced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
  • Salt and pepper to taste
Directions

1. Bring 1/2 inch of water to boil in small saucepan.

2. Add lima beans. Cover. Lower heat and steam beans 10-15 minutes until just tender. Drain and set aside.

3. Saute corn, shallot, and squash in butter, 3-5 minutes, until corn and squash are crisp tender.

4. Add lima beans, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

5. Serve sprinkled with chives.

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