Arts / Brunel's ss Great Britain
‘Inspires excitement and intrigue for flavours we may take for granted today’
Smell isn’t the only sense being used at “Britain’s smelliest museum” this summer.
Bristol’s SS Great Britain is engaging visitors in a wholly new sensory experience as they are invited to “taste the world” in a new exhibition this summer.
Visitors will be able to sample tastes from Mumbai, Cape Town, and the Crimea – places the ship itself visited in the nineteenth century.
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The dishes, created by Bristol-based Travelling Kitchen, feature a melon and ginger jam, coconut and coriander chutney, and a Crimean borsch, a hearty soup, coloured red from beetroot (though green and white varieties of the soup also exist).
The recipes for each are made available to visitors, alongside a brief history of the ship’s ventures to each country.
Guests sample dishes from across the world, transporting them back to an era when Britain’s ships traversed continents in prolonged expeditions – photo: Megan Evans
The experience also features a number of costumed actors, including the “ship’s cook” and engineer Brunel, who discuss their culinary and travel experiences with guests.
The tasting menu was developed in collaboration with the ship’s archivists and interpretation team for historical authenticity.
Joanna Mathers, head of collections at the SS Great Britain Trust, explained the influence behind the taste of Mumbai to curious guests: “One of the dishes – the green coriander and coconut chutney – was inspired by Samuel Archer, the ship’s surgeon, on a voyage to Mumbai in 1857.
One of the three dishes on offer, traditional Crimean Borsch – photo: Megan Evans
“We have access to his diary, which describes the food he experienced, and this process gives visitors to the ship a chance to step back in time to the days before mass travel. The flavours would have been brand new and exotic, and for many, their first time encountering the likes of coconut, ginger and melon”, says Joanna.
The experience takes place in the ship’s first-class dining saloon, lavishly decorated and featuring diary entries of the new sights and tastes recorded by travellers.
Dishes of Discovery runs from 23 July to 4 September.
Main photo: Mohiudin Malik
Read more: Brunel’s SS Great Western to be recreated in working dry dock
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