Ideas Are Everywhere

Museum Exhibits are a great source for design inspiration. We visited "Chocolate" at Chicago's Field Museum and found lots of rich, delicious Kitchen Ideas.

Some Facts from "Chocolate"

• Most Likely, cacao was first domesticated by the Olmec, in the humid lowlands of the Mexican Gulf Coast, between about 1800 and 300 BCE.

• In 1868, Richard Cadbury introduced the first box of chocolates-and later the first Valentines Day candy box!

• By 1930, there were nearly 40 thousand different kinds of chocolate in the United States.

Hear from the Design Team that created the "Chocolate" exhibit! Shelley Ulrich shared some behind the scenes insight into the creative design process:

What was most interesting to you when designing the chocolate exhibit?
I was most fascinated by the drinking cups and serving dishes of all the cultures we featured in the exhibition. I truly loved the Mayan vessels. Those artifacts really created a personal connection to me and my daily chocolate bar. Imagine, that much dedication and artistry for chocolate!

What ideas did not turn out-what did we not see?
Many ideas at the beginning of an exhibit are never identical to the final product, but their heart and soul are there. For example, we were unable to create a fully-immersive rainforest-but you got a great traveling version. We also toyed with the idea of crossing the Atlantic on a Spanish galleon when you followed chocolate back to Europe, but instead we have a beautiful map of the world where you can see the much bigger picture of how the love of chocolate spread. Also, we can't forget that there are countless wrappers, ads, jingles, and memories of the last couple of generations that were very, very difficult to edit down. Everyone has a favorite memory of chocolate-we just hoped to hit the highlights for all our visitors.

How would you incorporate chocolate in your own kitchen?
I love learning new recipes-and the biggest success has been mole poblano! This wonderfully rich sauce is heaven on chicken, or turkey. I found a fantastic recipe that starts from scratch…and features unsweetened baking chocolate. You'd be surprised by the rich and complex taste if you've had no prior exposure to mole sauce.

What's your favorite kind of chocolate?
While I can't settle on one brand (the team tasted hundreds over the 3 years we worked on this project)—I'm a huge fan of good, sweet dark chocolate. Oh, and brownies. Oh, and good malts too.

The Field Museum sent us a Turkey Mole recipe that you could try if you want to add chocolate to your menu.

1 turkey breast and wing
1 ½ teaspoons salt
2 medium onions, chopped
Bacon fat or oil
2 cloves garlic
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 small dried hot red chili, seeded and chopped
1 cup ground nuts (almonds, walnuts, peanuts, or cashews)
1 ounce bitter chocolate

Cut the turkey into several pieces. Place in large pot, add water to cover, and bring to a boil. Add the salt and simmer for 30 minutes.

While the turkey is simmering, brown the onion in bacon fat or oil. Add to the pot, along with garlic, chili powder, dried chili, nuts, and chocolate. Cover and simmer until turkey is tender and the sauce is well blended and thickened.

Correct seasoning to taste. Serve with rice or polenta and a cucumber salad.

Serves 4

Kitchen Ideas for Chocolate Lovers

If chocolate is your favorite treat, design your kitchen that way!

• Do a grouping of your three favorite photographs of chocolate-and then place them over your hearth or kitchen table.

• Go to a thrift store or a yard sale and get an old, round table-then decorate the top like a cupcake, using tints and shades of brown paint with a white painted swirl.

• Take your favorite candy bar wrapper; blow it up at your local copy place, then laminate it to make place mats. You could also laminate wrappers to make magnets for your fridge.

• Instead of crown molding, inscribe your favorite chocolate recipe around the border of your kitchen… or pick your favorite chocolate quote and paint that across your kitchen. Do it yourself or hire a faux painter or other artist.

• Take the graphics from the ingredient containers for your favorite chocolate recipes, like flour bags, bakers chocolate boxes and vanilla bottles. Use them as the border around your kitchen. You can make tiles and place mats, and can even paint a whole mural of your favorite chocolate recipe right on your own kitchen wall!

• For our own office paperweight, we took a Bakers box of chocolate, wrapped it in clear wrap, and voilà-our own chocolate office accessory-that smells delicious too!

We loved Chocolate at the Field Museum in Chicago. It's delicious! You can call for more information at 312-922-9410. The Exhibit will be there through December 2002.

Do you have any ideas for me? Please share on the Joan Asks You page.