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The exhibit opened in August in Room 15 of the Palace of the Governors, and it celebrates the stories and memories of more than 80 iconic and beloved New Mexico restaurants and an array of traditional foods.

Developed by Ohio company Exhibit Concepts, the exhibit brings the experience of eating out through several immersive elements, such as an interactive restaurant map, food photography, recipe cards, a jukebox playing Route 66 and food-themed music, a dining booth, a smell station with iconic New Mexican cuisine aromas, and a memory hot line with real voicemails from people sharing memories of dining at the featured eateries.

The exhibit sits in the 1,800-square-foot, multipurpose space, which allows for fundraising dinners, food tasting events, and other community, food-oriented programming that will launch in January. The exhibit will evolve over the course of the series; future topics could include the history of agriculture, Indigenous food heritage, food insecurity, and more.

In an effort to complement the exhibit and further promote the educational elements, the Museum of New Mexico Foundation, a nonprofit that supports New Mexico’s four state museums, partnered with DocuFilms, a nonprofit video production company that produces documentary and marketing pieces for nonprofit organizations across New Mexico, to create a film about the cultural and historical impact of food in New Mexico.

DocuFilms founder and executive director Michael Campbell was hesitant when foundation president Jamie Clements first approached him with the project in March because it was outside the company’s typical scope of work, which entails producing films pro bono for smaller charities that can’t afford marketing. However, after hearing about the project and the story the museum was trying to tell, Campbell jumped on board.

“It’s a story that, to my knowledge, hasn’t been packed together in one film,� Campbell says, adding the two nonprofits agreed to produce the film at cost, under $100,000, and co-fund it.

Campbell and director Zac Cornfield say pre-production, which began in mid-April, involved months of rigorous research and Zoom interviews with folks around the state.

“It was kind of like trying to wrestle down an elephant because it’s such a big story,� Campbell says.

Campbell, Cornfield, and a crew of about 15 local film professionals, including director of photography Dwight Hanson, started filming in July. The crew traveled throughout the state to interview chefs, food experts, historians, food organizations, farmers, ranchers, nutrition and Indigenous cuisine experts, and more. They traveled to places like Bernalillo County, Shiprock, Hobbs, Deming, Tierra Amarilla, and elsewhere.

After filming, Cornfield transcribed more than 30 interviews and, highlighter in hand, decided what to use in the film. The Albuquerque director says this was the most challenging part for two reasons: One, he had to build a cohesive story using so many different voices and topics, and two, he had to cap it at 30 minutes.

“It kind of got to the point in the edit room where it was like, that’s impossible. It’s impossible to tell that story in that amount of time,� Cornfield says.

After six weeks in the editing room, and cutting multiple storylines from the final product, DocuFilms presented the 56-minute Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico to a room full of foundation, museum, and other local food and history experts (and one Pasatiempo writer) on October 25.

The film explored what food was like pre-colonization and post-colonization, and how Colonial contact between the Indigenous people and Spanish conquistadors yielded both periods of violence and periods of peace when food traditions were exchanged. One interviewee put it this way: The conquered were changed by the conquerers but the conquerers were also changed by the conquered.

The film also delves into the state’s rich agricultural history, from growing chiles and corn to ranching sheep and buffalo. It features Native voices and stories of keeping Native food traditions alive. Indigenous food truck chef Ray Naranjo demonstrated using pottery as a traditional Pueblo tool for cooking ingredients like beans. Zachariah Ben, a sixth-generation farmer from Shiprock, demonstrated how to steam Navajo white corn underground.

Ben, also the owner of Bidii Baby Foods, a Navajo baby food company, highlighted the importance of feeding his children food their ancestors ate and that their bodies have preferences for.

“Johns Hopkins has done a study where they’ve said that when you actually bring Indigenous food profiles back to pueblos, to the reservations, the health outcomes are much higher,� Campbell said after the screening.

The film also touches on the influence of the railroads and Route 66, contemporizing how we experience food through diners as well as in new combinations of traditional foods, like the green chile cheeseburger. As closeups of today’s familiar, mouth-watering New Mexican dishes filled the screen, local chefs and restaurant owners spoke to the power of New Mexican food to comfort people with a traditional blend of cultures and ingredients. One interviewee said there’s nothing fancy about New Mexican food, but it just makes you feel good when you eat it.

“You think about French cuisine, Spanish cuisine, Italian cuisine,� Campbell says. “Well, there’s New Mexican cuisine. We’re the only state that actually has a cuisine named after it. It’s in the name.�

The film concludes with the message that food is more than feeding our appetites; it’s an integral part of identity and it brings people together, whether you’re a red, green, or Christmas fan.

The response in the screening room to the film was resounding praise. Many noted that the film made them want to go home and cook.

“I was just proud to be a New Mexican,� says Teresa Curl, the museum foundation’s vice president of retail. “There wasn’t a place that I didn’t recognize and feel pride in, and it pulled the whole state together. … To me, it was striking how much food is our culture, I mean deeper than the arts, deeper than anything. It was pretty moving.�

The foundation plans to screen Eating History: A Taste of New Mexico as a fundraising tool and for organizations like Cooking with Kids, the ·è¿ÍÖ±²¥ Fe Farmers’ Market Institute, and others. It also could be incorporated into the Forks in the Road exhibit.

The film will be streamed in February on PBS, which Campbell says “was always a dream.�

Viewers at the initial screening joked that New Mexico’s hotels should be warned that they may see an influx of visitors after people watch the film and flock to New Mexico to discover its cuisine.

“New Mexico is a state that is challenged,� Campbell says. “We all know the challenges, but I don’t think we stop to celebrate what makes us unique enough. And I think that this film is truly a celebration of the spirit and the soul of the people of New Mexico.� ◀